SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE CHAMBERS BRAAI (BBQ)

The Southern Hemisphere Foreign Chambers of Commerce (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) take great pleasure in inviting you to join them for their 4th Annual Braai (Barbecue) with lots of wonderful food, Australian, New Zealand and South African wines, San Miguel beer and soft drinks. Kindly sponsored by: Ayudhya Life Insurance Plc, MBMG International and San Miguel Brewery.

Tuesday 19 January 2010 from 18.00 onwards

The Garden, Sukhothai Hotel, Sathorn Road

THB 800 per person

Please RSVP to events (at) satcc (dot) net before midday Monday 18 January if you will attend AND who are your friends coming with you.

SA ONE OF THE BEST – EXPATS

(www.pretorianews.co.za, 2009/11/26)

South Africa is one of the top 10 countries in the world for expats to live. The UK ranks as one of the worst. Canada was seen as the best place to live for expats, followed by Australia, Thailand and Singapore. Thailand was the country where it was easiest to make friends. Only 28 percent of expats said they had bothered to learn the local language. The poll by HSBC Bank International placed Bahrain fifth and South Africa sixth, ahead of France, the US, Spain and Hong Kong. The poll, based on responses from more than 3 100 expats from 50 countries, showed 41 percent of expats in the UK found it difficult to find somewhere to live, compared with 28 percent averaged across all the countries. Expats find it difficult to find somewhere to live in the UK, with many finding their quality of accommodation poorer than they had at home. Also, 31 percent of expats said their health had deteriorated since moving to the UK, with 53 percent reckoning the daily commute had got worse. Among the reasons expats liked living in the UK was employment prospects, and they also enjoyed the entertainment.

BMW INVESTS ADDITIONAL R2,2BN IN ROSSLYN PLANT

(www.businessday.co.za, 2009/10/05) - “This investment will also trigger many positive spin-offs within our local supplier Network,” BMW SA MD Bodo Donauer told a media briefing in Johannesburg. While the investment would result in Rosslyn’s maximum plant capacity increasing from 60 000 to 87 000 units a year, it would also secure BMW car production in SA for the foreseeable future, Mr Donauer said. The South African vehicle market was facing its steepest decline in 15 years. “But the BMW Group has never shied away from making decisions for the future in difficult times,” he said, explaining that BMW had announced it was building its biggest production facility, Plant Dingolfing in Germany, in the middle of an oil crisis some 35 years ago. “At this time, Germany’s fancy motorways were filled with bicycles. This decision follows a similar pattern.” He said he was convinced that an announcement of this magnitude, during the worst known crisis the South African automotive industry had faced, sent a positive message to the company’s staff about the long-term sustainability of the Rosslyn plant. “It also sends a positive message about the future of this country, as a whole,” Mr Donauer said. He said while the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) had not been finalised, BMW’s latest announcement had been made possible by willingness from Government to remain flexible to the needs of the automotive industry. “I am happy to report that we have received written commitment from the Department of Trade and Industry (The DTI) confirming that our R2,2bn investment will be honoured under the APDP,” he said. “This commitment, along with the clear APDP framework which government has decided on, gives us the necessary confidence to make this announcement now.”