The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) has announced that Hakan Cervell, President of Ericsson Taiwan will serve as chairman of the ECCT's board of directors in 2017. Cervell was elected by the new board of directors at their first meeting following the chamber's Annual General Meeting (AGM) today. The 2017 boards of 15 directors and 5 supervisors were voted into office at today's AGM by ECCT members (please see p2 for a full list of directors and supervisors).

In its annual report to members at today's AGM, outgoing (2016) ECCT Chairman Bernd Barkey reported that 2016 was a very successful year for the chamber with frequent engagement with government ministries and agencies throughout the year, helping to further promote members' business interests. Membership rose to over 850 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 2015.

The ECCT was extremely active during the year, holding activities which included Premium Events, committee meetings and government visits. High profile activities included the Europe Day Dinner, Premium, Special and Committee events which attracted high profile guest speakers from Taiwan and Europe. ECCT members and the secretariat also arranged or participated in numerous conferences, seminars and forums in conjunction with government agencies from both Taiwan and Europe.

About the ECCT and the annual position papers
With over US$38 billion in direct foreign investments, Europeans remain 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 29 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 a series of 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 and parliament as well as the governments of individual European Union member states informed about Taiwan's business environment.

2017 Board of Directors

Chairman
Håkan Cervell, President, Ericsson Taiwan

Other directors (in alphabetical order)

• Bernd Barkey, Managing Director, Robert Bosch Taiwan
• Godwin Chang, Group Country Head, Société Générale Taipei Branch
• H Henry Chang, Principal, Baker & McKenzie
• Erdal Elver, President & CEO, Siemens Limited Taiwan
• Giuseppe Izzo, General Manager, STMicroelectronics
• Bart Linssen, Service Manager, Enercon Taiwan
• Eckart Mayer, President & CEO, Mercedes-Benz Taiwan
• Anton Melchers, Managing Director, Melchers Trading GmbH, Taiwan Branch
• Rufus Parkinson, Managing Director, Moët Hennessy Taiwan
• Katie Peng, General Manager, Roche Products
• Olivier Rousselet, Country Manager, BNP Paribas Taiwan
• Francine Wu, CEO, Schroder Investment Management (Taiwan)
• Wu Yating, Managing Director, Taiwan & Hong Kong, Unilever
• Patrick Yeung, General Manager, Taiwan & Korea, Cathay Pacific Airways

Alternate Directors (in order of election)

• Thomas Zechel, President, Evonik Taiwan
• John Winter, Country Manager, Robert Walters
• Peter Trampe, Country Manager, ISS Facility Services Taiwan
• John Pien, General Manager, Grundfos Handels AG Taiwan Branch
• Simon Fich, Managing Director, Kuehne + Nagel

2017 Board of Supervisors (in alphabetical order)

• Rami Baitieh, CEO, Carrefour Taiwan
• Mike Jewell, Senior Research Director, TNS Taiwan
• Nathan Kaiser, Attorney at Law (Switzerland), Eiger
• Thomas Kuiper, General Manager, Gandi Asia
• Martin Lindström, Group Director, DFI Home Furnishings Taiwan Limited - IKEA Taiwan

Alternate Supervisor
Andrew Cornforth, Chief Representative, ThyssenKrupp AG Representative Office Taiwan