Past Briefing Seminar on Managing Sustainable Supply Chains in Doing Business with China
The European Institute for Asian Studies is delighted to invite you to its Briefing Seminar “Managing Sustainable Supply Chains in Doing Business with China”. It will address the sustainable management of supply chains when doing business with China, as well as the aspects of maintaining viable supply chains. Our expert panel will discuss how to uphold quality control and improve sustainability.
This Briefing Seminar will be an in-person event, hosted at the EIAS premises on Friday 10 June 2022 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 AM CEST (GMT+2). After the presentations, there will be an interactive Q&A session between the panelists and the audience, followed by a networking reception.
Date: Friday, 10 June 2022
Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 AM CEST (Brussels time, GMT+2)
Registration: From 09:30 AM CEST
Venue: EIAS, Rue de la Loi 26, 10th Floor, B-1040 Brussels
Managing Sustainable Supply Chains in Doing Business with China
Facing the ever-changing global environment of economic sanctions and supply chain disruptions, it is essential to unravel the complexity of sustainable supply chain management when importing from China. As the costs and benefits of manufacturing and doing business in China are under pressure by increasingly vulnerable global logistics, the need for new approaches to strengthen the durability of these value chains has become evident. Companies must adhere to a comprehensive and sustainable management of their supply chains and promote a quality assurance framework to minimize potential risk when doing business with and investing in China. In order to benefit from these cross-cultural operations, it is vital for companies to address the challenges of upholding solid partnerships, maintaining sustainable supply chains, while also ensuring high-quality standards. The question is how to achieve this?
This briefing seminar will focus on how to maintain sustainable supply chain management as well as quality control compliance mechanisms in doing business with China.
Programme
09:30 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 10:10 Welcome Remarks by the Chair:
Lin GOETHALS, Director, European Institute for Asian Studies – EIAS, Brussels
10:10 – 12:00 Panel Discussion
A discussion by the speakers, followed by an interactive Q&A session with the audience
Speakers:
Koen DE RIDDER, Economic Representative of Flanders
Johnny BROWAEYS, National Vice Chair of the Carbon Working Group of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China and Head of Business Development of TusPark Brussels Innovation Center
Karel PERRIENS, General Manager China & Far East, Marshalls plc, Xiamen, China
12:00 Networking Reception
About the Speakers
Koen De Ridder
As of 1 June 2022, Koen De Ridder has once again joined the team of Flemish Economic Representatives (VLEVs) of Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT). This time, from Beijing, he will promote the Flemish economy on the international map by introducing Chinese entrepreneurs to the many advantages Flanders has to offer to foreign investors, and assist Flemish companies export to Northern China. Koen De Ridder has built up a vast amount of experience over the years. Most notably, he was the Flemish Economic Representative in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou for 7 years. Then, he spent 6 years in Hong Kong working for a Big Four company as head of the Belgian Desk Greater China. From 2017 to 2022, he was an International Advisor at UNIZO in Belgium, where he was one of the founders of the annual China Business Masterclasses. Until recently, Koen De Ridder also served as a UNIZO representative on the boards of directors of Flanders Investment and Trade and of the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency.
Karel Perriëns
Karel Perriëns has been involved in procurement from Asia in the natural stone sector since the early 1990s and this mainly in China, Vietnam and India. In 2005, Karel Perriëns settled in Xiamen, Fujian Province, in China, where he is leading a 12-person team of specialists as director of Xiamen Marshalls Ltd, a subsidiary of the British Marshalls PLC, market leader in the UK for natural stone products. The main function of his organization is to coordinate the supply from China and Vietnam of natural stone products for urban projects (streets, squares, parks…) and to provide engineering assistance and quality & compliance control. Besides Marshalls Xiamen, Karel Perriëns with his in-depth knowledge of Quality Control Management of Chinese supply chains, has with his own company QC&E developed specialised Quality Control Procedures not only for the natural stone sector but more generally for all sectors ensuring the necessary quality control supervision and full compliance with all the quality and regulatory requirements for trouble-free shipment.
Johnny Browaeys
Johnny Browaeys is the National Vice Chair of the Carbon Working Group of the European Chamber in China and also Senior Manager of Tus Brussels Innovation Center. Tus Brussels Innovation Center is part of the TusHolding group which has successfully built an innovation ecosystem with more than 300 incubators and science parks globally. Tus Brussels supports companies in Europe and China to accelerate and scale from collaborating in each others markets and innovating together. Johnny Browaeys is a China veteran and has been pioneering new business ventures in China since 2003, working for European, American and Chinese companies in China and just recently moved back to Belgium after 18 years in China.
Photo Credits: Pexels
