From The Chamber - January 2017

What a start to the new year!! The GOAT*, aka Roger Federer, wins his 18th Grand Slam title and SwissCham's membership renewals as per end of January are on its highest level in over a decade. Thank-you, Roger. Thank-you, dear members. Let the 2017 Games begin!

2016 was an investment year for SwissCham. In a nutshell, we adjusted our activities to the needs and interest of our membership base. As straight forward as it may sound, it's not. Swiss businesses in Australia do not only operate in a wide range of sectors and industries, but also greatly differ in size, and so do their needs and interests. The need they all have in common, however, is access - access to networking or information or exposure, or all three of them. These are SwissCham's three "service pillars" upon which everything we do is based on.

Our ïnvestment"in this strategy will continue in 2017. Expanding our value proposition by adding completely new services and by facilitating access to local business and industry networks is high on our agenda. We are working hard behind the scenes to make this happen and hope to make an official announcement over the next few weeks.

So, if you haven't renewed your membership or joined SwissCham yet, this is the best time to do it. Follow Roger Federer's footsteps and make it happen in 2017!

On behalf of our board directors, I wish you a very successful year and I am looking forward to working with you over the next few months.

Marcel Svatos

National General Manager

*Greatest Of All Time