NEWS. The Embassy of Belgium. Economic social cultural. June Embassy of Belgium June Dear readers,

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1 Embassy of Belgium June 2013 Economic social cultural NEWS June 2013 The Embassy of Belgium Dear readers, In this number you will find some information on 10 years of Belgian company Emeritis in Thailand and the Belgian roots of Thai insurance company Muang Thai Life. You will also hear about the visit of HRH Princess Astrid to Cambodia as a special envoy of the Roll Back Malaria partnership. Lastly, there is some good news coming from Thai Airways. Enjoy the reading! Kind regards, Marc Michielsen Ambassador 1

2 Embassy of Belgium June 2013 EMERITIS 10 TH ANNIVERSARY IN THAILAND Emeritis, a Belgian consulting company focused on HR Business Consulting & HR Software, celebrated its 10th anniversary in Thailand during the Princely Mission in March Together with the PTT Group, one of their major customers, they hosted a session in presence of HRH Prince Philippe. This case is a true success story of Belgian entrepreneurship in Thailand. As the number 1 provider on the Thai market in their niche area, Emeritis even doubled its employee size (to 50+ consultants) and revenue since 2011.The following names of Thai customers speak for themselves: PTT Group (PTTGC, PTTEP, Thai Oil, ), EGAT, GSB, Siam Pharma, DKSH, Holcim, Betagen and many more. So both local and international, public and private companies choose Emeritis as their HR-IT partner. The importance of this branch became even more significant since the deployment of Emeritis off-shore delivery model, using Thai expertise in European projects. The streamlined approach and collaboration between the Belgian and Thai offices proved its importance on many occasions, both in Europe and Asia. Picture: Guy Dullaert (CEO Emeritis group) introduces His Royal Highness Crown Prince Philippe to Dr Pailin (CEO PTT Group). 2

3 MUANG THAI AND AGEAS - A TRUE LOVE STORY Embassy of Belgium June 2013 On the occasion of his visit to Thailand as royal guest of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand, His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium had a meeting with Mr. Kittirat Na- Ranong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to learn about financial policy and role of Thailand. Mr. Kittiratt Na-Ranong expressed confidence in the Thai financial system that was reformed after the financial crisis in 1997 and reiterated that it was strong and secure and set to welcome foreign investors. His Royal Highness Prince Philippe and Deputy Prime Minister Kittirat Na- Ranong also attended a financial power luncheon jointly organized by Muang Thai Life Assurance, Muang Thai Insurance and Ageas. The partnership between Muang Thai and Ageas is truly an example of how overseas cooperation can become beneficial for all. Nine years ago, Muang Thai Life Assurance Public Company Limited and Muang Thai Insurance Public Company Limited decided to join forces with business partner Kasikornbank and Ageas of Belgium. The cooperation became a real success story as today Muang Thai Life Assurance is the market leader in banc assurance leveraging off the distribution network of Kasikornbank and Muang Thai Life Assurance is no.2 in terms of total premiums in the market. Muang Thai Insurance is also no.6 in the general insurance market. The company distributes its products through a multi-channel distribution platform with almost 25,000 agents and 816 retail branches of Kasikornbank, direct marketing, telemarketing, brokers. 3

4 About Ageas Ageas is an international insurance company with a heritage of more than 180 years. Ranked among the top 20 insurance companies in Europe, Ageas has chosen to concentrate its business activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the largest share of the global insurance market. Ageas operates successful partnerships in Belgium, UK, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand and has subsidiaries in France, Hong Kong and UK. It is the market leader in Belgium for individual life and employee benefits, as well as a leading non-life player, through AG Insurance. In the UK, it has a strong presence as the fourth largest player in private car insurance and the over 50 s market. Ageas employs more than 13,000 people and has annual inflows of almost EUR 17 billion. 4

5 Embassy of Belgium June 2013 HRH PRINCESS ASTRID PAYS A VISIT TO CAMBODIA Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid was in Cambodia between on 25 and 26 April 2013 as special envoy of the roll back malaria partnership. On 25 April 2013 Princess Astrid took part in the celebration of World Malaria Day in the village of Beng. On 26 April 2013 HRH participated in a WHO sponsored seminar on Artemisinin resistant malaria. The Princess also had bilateral meetings with the Cambodian minister of Health, the vice prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk. Pictures: HRH princes Astrid and HE Hor Namhong; HRH during the commemoration of World Malaria Day in the village of Beng). More pictures can be found on: 5

6 THAI ADDS FREQUENCY ON THE BRUSSELS-BANGKOK- BRUSSELS ROUTE FOR WINTER 13/14 Embassy of Belgium June 2013 Thai Airways International (THAI) recently announced 1 extra frequency on the route Brussels-Bangkok-Brussels which will become effective from 27 October 2013 on. This means THAI will operate with 4 flights per week between Brussels-Bangkok-Brussels as from winter ! The extra flight will operate on Sunday (day 7) in addition to the existing flights on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday (day 2/4/6). The 4 frequencies will be operated with a Boeing ER, which is a change of aircraft, with total 292 seats, including 30 Business class and 262 economy class seats. The 4 th flight on day 7 is already loaded in GDS and available to book now. NEW TIMETABLE AS OF 27 OCTOBER 2013: BRUSSELS-BANGKOK TG935/DAY / BANGKOK BRUSSELS TG934/DAY /