Taipei, 5 December – The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) has announced that Bernd Barkey, Managing Director of Robert Bosch Taiwan will serve as chairman of the ECCT's board of directors in 2015. Barkey was elected by the new board of directors at their first meeting following the chamber's Annual General Meeting (AGM) today. The 2015 boards of 15 directors and 5 supervisors were voted into office at today's AGM by ECCT members.

In its annual report to members at today's AGM, outgoing (2013-2014) ECCT Chairman Giuseppe Izzo reported that 2014 was a very successful year for the chamber. The chamber regularly engaged with the Executive Yuan throughout the year, helping to further promote members' business interests. Membership rose to over 820 individual members and the quality and participation at events remained very high. A number of successful events were held and, in terms of advocacy, the chamber saw a similar high level of progress compared to 2013. Of the issues raised in the 2014 Position Papers, over 24% of issues were either successfully resolved or saw progress towards resolution comparable to 2013.

The ECCT was extremely active in 2014, holding over 180 activities including events, meetings and government visits, with attendance of around 4,500 members and guests. High profile activities included the Europe Day dinner. There were also a number of other Premium Events which attracted high profile guest speakers from Taiwan and Europe.

About the ECCT and the annual position papers
With over US$33 billion in direct foreign investments, Europeans are collectively the largest group of foreign investors in Taiwan. The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan is the only foreign nationwide business chamber in Taiwan and the principal organisation promoting European business interests in Taiwan. The chamber represents over 800 members from over 400 companies and organisations. Through a network of 28 industry and support committees, the ECCT has been successful in addressing specific concerns and providing concrete recommendations to all levels of government to facilitate improving the business environment. The ECCT annually publishes position papers that comprise issues identified by its committees as hindering the further development of their respective industries and provide recommendations to the government of Taiwan for improvement of the business environment on general issues as well as industry-specific problems. They also serve to keep the European Commission, the European Parliament as well as the governments of individual European Union member states informed about Taiwan's business environment.

2015 Board of Directors

Chairman
Bernd Barkey, Managing Director, Robert Bosch Taiwan

Other directors (in alphabetical order)
Helmut Bolt, Chief Representative, ThyssenKrupp AG Representative Office Taiwan
Derrick Chan, Deputy Chairman/Managing Director, Swire Group Taiwan / Taikoo Motors, Taiwan Branch
Godwin Chang, Group Country Head, Société Générale Taipei Branch
H Henry Chang, Principal, Baker & McKenzie
Erdal Elver, President & CEO, Siemens Limited Taiwan
Eng Leong Goh, Managing Director, BASF Taiwan
Uwe Halstenbach, General Manager, TÜV Rheinland Taiwan
Giuseppe Izzo, General Manager, STMicroelectronics
Gabriela Koehli, President & Chief Financial Officer, Bayer Taiwan
Daver Lau, General Manager, AMADEUS Taiwan
Eckart Mayer, President & CEO, Mercedes-Benz Taiwan
Rufus Parkinson, Managing Director, Moët Hennessy Taiwan
Olivier Rousselet, Country Manager, BNP Paribas Taiwan
Francine Wu, CEO, Schroder Investment Management (Taiwan)

Alternate Directors (in order of election)
1^st Peter Trampe, Country Manager, ISS Facility Services Taiwan
2^nd Rene Jensen, VP & GM, GlaxoSmithKline Far East B.V. Taiwan Branch
3^rd Bart Linssen, Service Manager, Solvent GmbH Taiwan Branch
4^th Brandon Hsu, Country Manager, Taiwan, Regus

2015 Board of Supervisors (in alphabetical order)

Peter Huizing, General Manager, Heineken Brouwerijen BV Taiwan Branch
Mike Jewell, Senior Research Director, TNS Taiwan
Nathan Kaiser, Attorney at Law, Eiger
Martin Lindström, Group Director, DFI Home Furnishings Taiwan Limited - IKEA Taiwan
David Raymond, Managing Director, CHANEL, Taiwan

Alternate Supervisor
Thomas Kuiper, Chief Operating Officer, Gandi Asia