TFWA ASIA PACIFIC PREVIEW PART II
it is extremely positive that there is that kind of interest to serve on the Management Committee and serve for the right reasons. I really think that is positive
for the industry and it is positive for the association. We have got a very engaged Management Committee now. They are really eager and curious
and they want to take part and I think that is just great. Personally, I am enjoying it and
it sometimes gives me more work than I otherwise might have, but I think that it is really beneficial for the association and it is certainly beneficial for the industry. That is extremely positive. We
have also got a very good Board, who as you know, put an awful amount of their limited spare time into this association and I think that from almost any parameter the association is in really good shape.
So how optimistic are you that the market environment is going to improve in the short term, because it does look a bit more challenging than it has done for a long time? I think it is and I don’t think we are going to see a massive increase over the next couple of months. There’s so much happening out there. Look at Korea, look at all of the other places and America for that matter. I think we will have some difficult
months ahead and I don’t think we are going to decrease. I think we are going to continue to increase, but I don’t think it is going to be as rapid as some might hope or expect. There is just so much happening in terms of challenges to the business.
Do you think we have become a little complacent after experiencing so much annual year-on-year growth? Oh I think there has been a certain amount of complacency and I’m not excluding myself. I think we have been used to success…
So we have been spoiled a little haven’t we? Yes, we have, because we have really just been looking at increasing numbers in all sorts of ways. But I
MAY 2017 The TFWA China’s Century Conference took place in Guangzhou in March.
think that having said that, you see so much activity going on now on different fronts. I even think that the industry is very slowly getting to grips with the digital world…
And what about yourself as President of TFWA – are you happy where you are at the moment? I am, otherwise I wouldn’t be here and I have said that often. I think we are doing the right things and we are on a good slope, so personally I am absolutely enjoying the work that I do for APTRA, MEADFA, TFWA and the Duty Free World Council. I think that in many ways I am in
the privileged situation of being part of so much happening around me, so as far as I am concerned I have no complaints whatsoever. But I can see that there are always
things to do. Sarah [Sarah Branquinho- Ed] and I were in Paris on Monday and Tuesday for the ETRC meeting and the programme we got through and the issues and the challenges are tremendous, so there is still so much that needs to be dealt with. I still don’t believe that half the
industry understands what is actually being done on their behalf and maybe we can’t complain about that if we are not being good enough to communicate it, although maybe that might be my complaint. I still find it absolutely strange that
some of the players in this industry are not taking part in the work of the
“I just can’t understand that even those very big players in this industry who seem to have all the money in the world to drive their businesses don’t have a modest fee to be part of a trade association.”
Erik Juul-Mortensen, Tax Free World Association
associations around us. I just can’t understand that even
those very big players in this industry who seem to have all the money in the world to drive their businesses don’t have a modest fee to be part of a trade association. I just don’t get it.
So looking forward, what would your three wishes be today? Well I certainly hope we will have some more political stability with peace in the world – there has been too much happening on too many fronts. I mean look what happened in
Southern France. So I really hope that the world will become a more peaceful place to live in. Secondly, I hope there will be
a happy outcome with Brexit. I know that we won’t see that in the next year, but I really hope that Brexit somehow will be a positive thing, although at this particular time I doubt it. «
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