The elections were held on 24 April 2014 at the European Chamber’s Annual General Meeting in the Westin Hotel Beijing, during which three Vice Presidents, Bertrand de La Noue, Mats Harborn and Sara Marchetta, and a Treasurer, Francois Bernard, were also elected to the Chamber’s Executive Committee. It was the first time as far as I remember there was a real competition for president and vice president. All candidates gave their motivation speech, all with a pretty different angle. Joerg came out far ahead as the new president.
The member company representatives have elected Jörg Wuttke as the new president. As president, Jörg will chair the Executive Committee, which is responsible for providing strategic direction for the Chamber and representing our 1,800 member companies. Jörg is a German national and has been Vice President and Chief Representative of BASF China since 1997. This will be his second stint as president of the European Chamber, after having previously served for three years between 2007 and 2010. He is replacing the outgoing president, Davide Cucino.
Davide has now taken over my role as chairman of the Public Procurement Working GRoup. The Chamber finally “realized” the term as chairman is maximum three years. I set up the Working Group in 2005 and I have been the chair since then – nine years! I agreed to continue as vice chair to help Davide.
The challenges ahead for the Chamber are plenty. The Chamber has grown to become huge with 1800 members. Business is not getting easier; participation to Chamber activities can be a challenge in itself for most chambers who struggle with membership (not an issue with EUCCC), low turnout to events, effective participation to the Working Groups, definition of policies, etc.
Full overview of the Executive Committee of the EUCCC:
The Executive Committee’s prime responsibility is to provide strategic direction for the European Chamber. The members of the Executive Committee are collectively responsible for managing the European Chamber. The Executive Committee is chaired by the President. The Executive Committee is composed of members from various European Union Member States and is elected at the annual general meeting. Below you will find information on the functions of the Executive Committee members.
- President – Jörg WUTTKE, BASF China
- Mats Harborn, Vice President, Scania China Strategic Office
- Sara Marchetta, Vice President, CHIOMENTI Studio Legale Beijing Representative Office
- Bertrand de la Noue, Vice President, TOTAL (China)
- Stefan Sack, Vice President, Comau
- Alberto Vettoretti, Vice President, Dezan Shira & Associates
- Francois Bernard, Treasurer, FJA & Partners
- Maija Kurte, States Representative, Linearis Translations Beijing Ltd
- Tom Behrens-Sorensen, States Representative, Clavis (Beijing) Ltd
- Patrick Horgan, States Representative, Rolls-Royce
- Adam Dunnett, Secretary General, European Chamber