Swiss Trade - SwissCham

8 Swiss Trade November 2010
id currency. Furthermore it wields a purchasing
power not to be underestimated:
namely 200 million people”, says Christian
Hanssen, president of the Swiss-Brazilian
chamber of commerce (SWISSCAM).
This new stability and purchasing power
has triggered a dramatic increase in
consumption.
Food is a large part of this, of
course, as well as white goods like
television sets or fridges, energy,
gas, oil, and infrastructure. In a
growing economy demand rises,
and Brazil’s 2010 growth rate is
an impressive 7%.
“One thing is very important,
though, when you are interested
in doing business in Brazil”,
stresses Hanssen, “you should be
able to fund the business venture yourself,
because with an interest rate of 25%
a year and inflation at 4% you cannot be
dependent on Brazilian banks.”
Malaysia, China and wider Asia
One of the most important factors of
Swiss export values
19 %
President Christian
Hanssen, SWISSCAM
breaking into a new market is being open
to a different culture.
“In Asia, Malaysia and Singapore
are the countries with a
mentality most similar to that
of the west, due their history
of being a British colony”, says
Patrick Kriesemer, member of
the Executive board
at the Swiss Asian
SwissCham members
Local office
Representation
Chamber of Commerce
(SACC), Chairman
of the Malaysia
and Brunei Commit-
tee, and managing partner of
Kriesemer & Partners. That
makes doing business with
them a little bit easier.
Culture and ethnicity is very
important in Asia; you have to know
about the differences, especially if you
hire local employees. There are certain
positions that are traditionally filled
by the Malay, Chinese or Indians, and
Kriesemer is convinced that not playing
Executive board member
Patrick Kriesemer,
SACC
by the prevailing rules can cost you success.
Of course, the product or
service you are providing will be
the decisive factor, but even the
best product can fail if you are
not playing the markets properly.
Kriesemer recommends involving
experts with a strong local
network and who knows how to
prepare a successful market entry
into any Asian country.
“You have to offer something
unique but cannot ignore
the culture and its local rules. Sell Swiss
Made quality with an Asian face, that’s
how it’s done”, says Kriesemer.
The Swiss Made label can turn out to
be the key to success, especially for young
SMEs, because a lot of positive attributes
are associated with it; quality, precision
and reliability, to take a few examples.
Japan is still Switzerland’s most important
trading partner in Asia with almost