Seminar ABROAD
Build Relations,
cross Bridges
06.10. April
MALAYSIA
On the first day of our Seminar Abroad, the project team, our delegation, and the accompanying staff assembled at the airport in Zürich. We even had the pleasure of having met the Head of International Relations FHNW, Robert Buttery. He accompanied us to the gate and gave his farewell. 👋🏼
And with that, we flew to Kuala Lumpur. #14hours #FHNWglobal
Landed there, we were greeted by our exceptional tour guide, Gary. He drove us with a shuttle bus to our hotel in the heart of the city, THE FACE Suites. 🚌
At this point, most of us had had less than 8 hours of sleep the last two days. Yet still, we were willing to get ready in one hour and drove to the Batu Caves. Those caves are not only beautiful but also a highly spiritual place for Hindus around the world. As Gary told us, each year in February millions of Hindus gather to ask for supernatural guidance, strength, fortune, and last but not least, to show gratefulness for everything they already have. 🙏🏼 At these colourful stairs and naturally impressive caves, many monkeys run freely around and like to interact with the people. Always be careful, though! These monkeys can also harm you. 🌈🐒
The next day, we were ready to go to the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and to ABB Malaysia. Arriving at UTM, we were welcomed heartily. And after a quick group picture, we had the honour of Nur Azaliah Abu Bakar, BASHEER AL-HAIMI, and Ts. Nor Ruwaida Jamian (PhD) giving us their perspectives on technology, future skills and trends, and cooperation between Malaysia and Japan. Then, we made a tour around the campus, coworking spaces, and even an algae farm. There we got a short but interesting insight regarding the sustainable usage of algae by Prof. Koji Iwamoto. But the best part of this experience was the social bonds that were built. In the afternoon, we had a great insight into the logic and the value of the security products of ABB. But furthermore, their engagement for sustainability and their inspiring working culture. And to top the enthusiasm of the presenters Laurent Maillefer and Siew Kim Ho, they even presented us two roboters in their simplest form to show us their technological advancement – it was fascinating!
The day after, we walked through the city and visited innovative solutions from Think City to keep developing Kuala Lumpur into a sustainable and liveable megacity. Afterwards, we visited CIMB, where various different speakers explained to us how Islamic banking works and why it is a sustainable mindset that will overtake conventional banking. And this is even not only with the religious context.
Of course, in between were the individual adventures our delegation went through. But on the last day we visited Melaka, a city rich in history about Malaysia and filled with cultural harmony. So much to Malaysia. See you in Singapore! #FHNW #ISP #sustainability #technology #culture #Malaysia
10.-12. April
SINGAPORE
After our trip to Melaka, we arrived safely in Singapore at the hotel Paradox Singapore Merchant Court. The staff welcomed us sincerely from our long and exhausting travel. And because this journey with the bus was long and exhausting, the delegation had an evening off for their own desires to explore the wonderful city! Or rather, country?
The next day we met early to be punctual for our company visit at Google. Felix Goh gave us an easy to follow and inspiring speech about their current services and strengths but also their plans for the future.
To name some examples of their solutions: FlutterFlow, Synthesia, Gemini, NotebookLM, SynthID, Google Labs, Project Astra , and Read Along. 📊Furthermore, we did a tour with exclusive insights into the campus and their numerous benefits. All of us fell in love with their culture – it is truly a dream come true! Thanks for showing us that working culture can be fun everywhere on the globe!👏🏼
In the afternoon, we visited the leading medicine faculty of all of Asia, the National University of Singapore (NUS) - or to be exact, the Lin School of Medicine. NUS is Singapore’s oldest medical school and a leader in medical education, research, and clinical care worldwide. Research at NUS Medicine transforms insights into real-world health solutions. Its researchers focus on solving biomedical challenges and improving patient lives through innovative and translational research. 🏅Nevertheless, this was not everything. Mrs Minh Le, Assistant Professor, introduced us to the subject of cancer (treatment). Afterwards, a handful of visitors were allowed to go on a tour through the labour! 👩🏻⚕️👨🏼⚕️#EVs #RNA #DNA #RBCEVS
After the joint dinner at Din Tai Fung Singapore, everyone enjoyed the last evening in this impressive megacity not only with a full belly, but the way they wanted to.
#marinabaysands 🌇 #supertreegrove 🌴 #singaporeflyer 🎡 #artsciencemuseum 🧬 #HSBCrainvortex ⛲️
Stay tuned for our next article about Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam❗️
12.-19. April
VIETNAM
Arrived in Hanoi, we first shared a whole table of delicious traditional dinner all together. 🍱
The day after was a surprise day, filled with a historical tour about the founding of Vietnam 📜, a bicycle tour through the mountains 🚴🏼♂🚴🏻♀🚴🏻, and a ride on the river to the Bai Dinh temples and the Mua caves. 🪔
Special shoutout to our exceptional guide! 👏
Next up were visits to FPT Software, a global tech park that focuses on digital transformation, AI, and automatisation, and the Foreign Trade University
(FTU), a leading university in Vietnam in economics and international trade. At the end of the day we all together enjoyed many cultural activities, foods, and an unforgettable karaoke session with the local students in both Vietnamese and Swiss-german!🎙To round up our stay in Hanoi, we learnt from our embassy of Switzerland that Vietnam wants to be a friend of the world, caring about personal partnerships with as many cultures as possible around the world.🫶🏼 #trustiseverything
Afterwards we travelled to Ho Chi Minh City, where we had insights about the Vietnam War in their national museum. Out of respect we decided not to share any pictures of it. In the afternoon, Beat Schuerch and his team from Dragon Capital, a leading investment firm, presented us the development of Vietnam and greenwashing in the investment sector. They explained to us that even in environmental or impact bonds return matters the most for investors. Furthermore, that Vietnam has no problem with gender equality, having many women professionals around during our visit. Vietnam rather struggles with their tropical climate. And with that, they taught us that sustainability depends on the backgrounds and past experiences of struggles in a culture rather than absolute generals.
The next day we visited Hirdaramani Vietnam - Fashion Garments Limited, a key sustainable manufacturer for many of the world's most iconic brands like Nike, Lacoste, Levi's® Footwear & Accessories, and Tommy Hilfiger. Thanks for the insightful tour through the production of our daily clothes. It really let us reflect on our consumption and what it takes to produce each piece! #45thousandspiecesaday made mostly by hand! In the evening, we enjoyed a joint dinner on a cruise on the Sông Sài Gòn river of the city. ⛴
On our last day, Jakob Rope Systems welcomed us. This is a Swiss company specialising in stainless steel wire ropes and mesh solutions for architectural and industrial applications all around the world! ⛓ They built the world's largest zoo enclosure with 110'000 square metres of steel net. These are 22 soccer fields! Also notable is that this branch is the only manufacturer for their clients in the whole world. Moreover, these products are also mostly handmade - wow! 👏
Fun fact: Many of us picked up suits and dresses from local tailors we gave in order. Maybe we will see them in the closing event! 👀#FHNWglobal #ISP #sustainability #technology #culture #Vietnam
19.-22. April
THAILAND
The last stop on our journey through ASEAN is Bangkok, Thailand. The evening we arrived was a championship superfight for the featherweight title! So, of course, our Muay Thai fans went to watch the show in the world‘s first Muay Thai stadium, Rajadamnern Stadium. 🥊 #rajadamnernworldseries
The highlight was definitely the win of Zoe Neuschwander as Swiss representative against Wendy Talbot, an australian fighter, and the win by knockout in the first round from "Capitan“, the Thai representative, against Chris Cocores, the american representative. #respect🏅
The next day we gave the delegation the option to either visit the Grand Palace, which was the official residence of Thai kings in 1782 for over 150 years 🏯👑, and the temple Wat Pho, the birthplace of Thai massage with over 1‘000 Buddha images 🛕⛩️📿🙌🏼, or explore the city on their own freely. 🔍
In the evening we enjoyed one last joint dinner together at Taling Pling. 🍜
On our last day of the entire trip, we had two more company visits. And they did not disappoint at all! Firstly, we went to Roche, one of the world’s largest biotech companies focused on pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. There, Tobias Auer and his team showed us how Roche Thailand is advancing sustainable healthcare across Southeast Asia through research, partnerships, and cutting-edge technology. ⛑️🩺 Secondly, we visited Indorama Ventures, a global chemical company and leading producer of PET and fibres. 🧪🔬With their innovations, sustainable practices, and their strong global presence across various industries, they play a key role in the circular economy. With products like (100% recycled!) PET bottles, premium baby diapers, and airbags, Indorama Ventures is present in over 30 countries worldwide with over 120 sites. ♻️🌏Clients are adidas, UNIQLO, Unilever, Ferrari, BMW Group, Zara, IKEA, 3M, and Under Armour, just to name a few. Sincere thanks for this eye-opening tour through the chemical world, something that is new to most of our delegation. But now we know that Indorama Ventures is everywhere in our daily lives!
And with that, our journey in Asia comes slowly to an end. We appreciate each and everyone who followed our adventure through ASEAN ❤️#FHNWglobal #ISP #sustainability #technology #culture #Thailand