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90 day hit totals 24,859
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
THE
STATE OF THE Aachen REGION
[biz:
Aachen,
March 12]
In the vaulted chamber of the Coronation Hall at Aachen's great City
Hall, dating from the 14th century, Michael Wirtz, the President of the
Aachen Chamber, gave his state of the region address, looking back over
the year that had passed, looking towards the future and placing strong
emphasis on the importance of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion. Many of the
themes with which he dealt came up last year, as they are ongoing issues
in the region (see issue 11). He spoke of the need for flexibility in the
German labor market to meet the challenge of globalization, of falling
educational standards and stated that the neglect of education was
cultural, social and economic suicide. He went on to say that a state
share of 50 percent of the GNP was unhealthy and that UMTS licenses at EUR
50bn were exorbitant. He reflected on the high level of business taxes in
some towns of the region. He also spoke at length about the regional
infrastructure, re-echoing points from the previous year and commended the
Euregiobahn rail link which should be extended to Maastricht, Hasselt,
Liège and Verviers. He expressed his incomprehension at the
decision of the province of Limburg to develop an electric light rail link
that would be incompatible with the Euregiobahn. [See the response
to this below under Infrastructure and Logistics. Ed] He welcomed his
colleague Thijs Wöltgens, the President of the Maastricht Chamber, and
added that he hoped that President Wöltgens would use his considerable
influence in The Hague's political circles to expedite the merger between
the Aachen and Maastricht Chambers. On the Euroregional front he also
added that he thought that it was nonsense for a German company based at
Avantis 50 yards across the border to be governed by Dutch law. Mr Wirtz
closed his speech with a quote from Sir Karl Popper: "life is about
solving problems".
http://www.ihk-aachen.de
DSM SUPERVISORY BOARD
[BIZ: Heerlen, March 12]
Professor Cornelius (Cor) Herkströter (1937) is to be the new chairman
of the Supervisory Board of Directors of DSM N.V. He will succeed Mr
H.H.F. Wijffels, whose term of office ends this year on March 27, 2002. Cor
Herkströter has been on the DSM Supervisory Board since April 1, 2000 and is
a highly experienced manager with an international reputation. Until 1998 he
was chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell
Group and president of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company.
http://www.dsm.com
AACHEN
AND POLAND
[biz:
Aachen,
March 11]
Aachen's business promotion and European affairs department is holding four
seminars with the Polish Embassy's Cologne office in 2002. The first of the
seminars will take place in Cologne on March 21 and will look at the change
in economic structure from the coal face to the 'clean room' with Aachen as
an example. Since the award of the Charlemagne prize in 1998 to the Polish
foreign minister of the time, Bronislaw Geremek, there have been close
contacts between the trade and business promotions departments of the city
of Aachen and Poland.
http://www.prosoz.de
CAR
BATTERY BAN
[IND:
Brussels,
March 8]
The
European Commission has announced that the use of cadmium batteries in
electric vehicles is to be banned in the EU from 2005. Cadmium is a heavy
metal that is harmful to the environment and can cause kidney damage in
humans. Alternative power sources for electric cars in the form of nickel
metal hydride batteries were now available and lithium-ion batteries would
be available later. As the EU is keen to promote electric cars it was
important that the transition to new power sources should not disrupt the
market. Setting a 2005 deadline would make this possible.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/press_room/index_en.htm
Lille as the shining example
[biz:
Liège,
March 5]
The Liège business association, Union Wallonne des Entreprises de Liège
(UWEL), representing a third of the Walloon business community and 40
percent of SMEs, held its
general meeting in the hospitality suite of the Fortis Bank, overlooking the Place
de l'Opéra, said goodbye to its President Georges Loix, welcomed its
new President Daniel Culot and listened to the day's speaker Bruno
Bonduelle, of the vegetable dynasty, from Lille. The City of Lille was presented as
a prime example of economic transformation driven by its expanding presence in its
own Euroregion (taking in Flanders and Southeast England, see link 2 below),
the location of new industries and above all, as a result of its logistical
pre-eminence with the advent of the TGV. Mr Bonduelle, reflecting on the
dominance of Paris in the French context, emphasized the importance of
strong regional centers and getting local politicians to sink their
differences and form a united front. Daniel Culot, a former law
professor and currently MD of IBM Liège, took up the baton and referred in
his speech to the Wonderful World of Walloon business (or words to
that effect) and to the resemblance in the cross border and cultural context
between Liège and Lille. He added, however, that there was a major
difference in the quality of the dialogue between the business and political
communities. Liège, with a population of one million in the province and
half a million in the urban area, had reached the critical mass necessary to
launch it as a Euroregional metropolis. However, authorization for a lift
off awaits the development of the urban agglomeration (see Issue 30),
without which the city does not have an adequate tax or population
base to support its facilities. The decision on the establishment of this
urban agglomeration is currently eagerly awaited in Liège. Nevertheless Mr
Culot pointed out that the new urban structure would not provide an adequate
launching pad if it just became a political plaything and neglected the
interests of business. An overview of business progress is given at the UWEL
website listing the activities of the principal businesses in the community.
http://www.uwe.be
http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3228-3818-148412-VT,00.html
GERMAN
LAW FROM STRICK
[biz:
Cleves,
March]
The Dutch language German law newsletter from Kanzlei Strick for
March lists lectures and workshops on doing business in Germany, new
procedural rules in German law, the basics of German contract law,
restitution of German VAT for 2001 which has to take place before June 30,
2002, communication problems on the 15 percent regulation, a checklist on
emigration and detachment, the second of the ten commandments on doing
business in Germany and a new German association for credit management.
http://www.strick.de/nieuwsbrief/
JBC EXPANDS DISTRIBUTION
[biz:
Houthalen,
February 28]
The Houthalen clothing chain JBC increased revenues by 7 percent last year
to EUR 128.2m and is now to invest EUR 6m in expanding its distribution
center in Houthalen. JBC has 81 branches, 71 in Belgium, four in Luxembourg
and six in the Netherlands. It also has a 75 percent holding in Fashion
Point at the Maasmechelen designer mall. One of the secrets of JBC's success
is apparently its avoidance of city center properties and a preference for
the periphery.
http://www.jbc.be/nl/over/index.html
FUTURE
TOPPERS IN BUSINESS
[biz:
Maastricht,
February 26]
Dutch business journalists Vittorio Busato, Jeroen Conijn and Marcel Misset
have analyzed leading Dutch businesses in terms of set parameters and
forecast which are to be the high flyers of the future in a volume entitled Top
Bedrijven van de Toekomst, published by Wolters Noordhoff. The
assessment parameters are: flexibility in planning and organization,
innovative power, international orientation, human resources policy,
management quality, market performance (where exchange-quoted) and future
expectations in terms of product and market development, profit and revenue
development and employment development. Among the once and future stars is
Maastricht-based KFN Kantorenfonds Nederland, a Dutch real estate
company which focuses on the upper segment of the office market. Their
direct investment result went up by 6 percent to EUR 52m in 2001 and the
portfolio grew by EUR 93m to EUR 1.087bn. This is a modern office portfolio of some 600,000m², including some
of the most interesting buildings in Maastricht. KFN offers added value
in choosing locations to meet clients' extracurricular requirements and also
provides added value services within the buildings which can range from
broadband facilities to childcare and may also include the presence of a
friendly neighborhood dentist and a barber. Forty-eight top companies are
listed, including KFN and also Isotis on its way to Avantis.
http://www.researchfoundation.com
NEW
INSURANCE CHIEF
[BIZ: Aachen, February 20]
Following the extraordinary meeting of the Supervisory Board of AMB
Generali
Holding AG, Aachen February 20, 2002, the company announced that the
current CEO Dr. Hans Jäger (60) would retire with effect from February 28,
2002 for reasons of health. The Supervisory Board thanked Dr. Jäger for his
many years of commitment to the Group and wished him a speedy recovery. With
effect from March 1, 2002 Dr. Walter Thießen (51) was appointed the
new Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Thießen started his professional
career with Deutscher Herold Versicherungsgruppe in Bonn. In 1985 Dr.
Thießen joined AMB Group and the management of what has become AMB
Generali Informatik Services GmbH (AMB Informatik), Aachen.
http://www.amb.de
fORD
GETS FLEMISH MONEY
[IND:
Genk,
February 16]
The Ford factory in Genk is to receive EUR 7.75m in funding from the Flemish
government. The money is to be used to retrain Ford staff for the new
production line. The funding will run through to 2004 when the new models
are scheduled to come off the production line. The plan was approved by the
European Commission in December.
http://www.vkwlimburg.be
new super FIBER production
[IND:
Genk,
February 15]
DSM Specialty Compounds in Genk is setting up a new production line for its
super strong StaMax fiber. The line should be ready to go in 2003. StaMax is
a long glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene and is being used in in the supporting structure for the headlights and
radiator of the new
Citroen C5.
http://www.vkwlimburg.be
LOGISTICS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
PROVINCE
RESPONDS ON EUREGIOBAHN
[INFRA: Maastricht, March 14]
The
Province of Limburg's spokesman, Guus Kruijssen's response to the Meuse-Rhine
Journal about light rail criticism from Aachen was to say that,
in respect of the track, there was compatibility; as regards the choice of
locomotion i.e. diesel light train or electric light rail, the choice
depended on the operator and Dutch law required the project to be put out to
public tender. Accordingly, although the Provincial Executive has opted for
light rail, the operator could decide on 'light train'. There is, however, a difference in rail security systems,
with the Dutch system using a continuous detection system and the Germans a
discontinuous system. The Dutch system, which requires a range of ancillary
facilities, costs one third of the projected EUR 45m costs. Increasing train
frequency to 4 instead of 2 trains would double the figure, extending the
line to Sittard would treble or quadruple it. There is also the vexed
issue of power supply, with different voltages being used by German, Dutch
and Belgian rail systems, and one using direct current and the other
alternating current. Nevertheless talks with the Aachener Verkehrsverbund are
ongoing.
http://www.webcontentnow.com
TGV
CARGO LIEGE-PARIS
[INFRA: Liège, March 14]
Liège Airport's board has unanimously approved the EUR 25m new passenger
terminal project, which will allow the airport to handle up to a million
passengers.
Opening is scheduled for Summer 2004. The project will receive technical
support from the Aéroports de Paris group (ADP) to which it belongs and
which has considerable experience in this area. On the cargo front ADP and
Liège Airport are setting up a working group on TGV cargo. They are getting
together with French and Belgian railways and integrators such as, FedEx,
DHL and TNT to start plans for a TGV cargo train (which doesn't require
JetA1 fuel) between Paris and Liège.
This is a unique European project which will constitute an irreversible step
on the path to durable European transport intermodality.
http://www.liegeairport.be
SCIENCE
PARK FILLING UP
[Infra:
Liège, March 9]
The Sart Tilman Science Park, adjacent to the University of Liège, has been
in existence for 30 years and has in recent years been so successful that it
has filled its 27 ha location. The Walloon government has now authorized
SPI+ to expand by a further 51 ha, nine of which are located within the
boundaries of Liège. The extension which will fall to SPI+ in six years'
time is largely in the Seraing area. The Walloon government has not
entirely met SPI+'s requirement which was for 140 ha, including 131 at
Ougrée. There is a certain amount of red tape involved and apparently while
a square meter of land cost BEF 100 five to ten years ago, it now costs
double that at EUR 4.09. There are more than 50 sophisticated
businesses, employing more than 1,000 at Sart Tilman at the present
time.
http://www.lameuse.be
ANOTHER
RYANAIR ROUTE
[Infra:
Eindhoven, March 3]
Ryanair seems to be encircling Meuse-Rhine using a pincer movement. It is
now flying from Charleroi to London Stansted and apparently intends to start
a route from Eindhoven Airport to London Stansted on April 4 offering a
single ticket for EUR 97.
http://www.zwerftocht.nl
BELGIUM
TO ABANDON NUCLEAR POWER
[Infra:
Hasselt, March 1]
The Belgian cabinet has approved a program for the gradual withdrawal from
nuclear power for the production of electricity. The plan is to close
nuclear power stations when they have been in service for 40 years. This
means that these stations will be closed down between 2015 and 2025 and no
further nuclear power stations for industrial power generation will be
built, although the draft legislation is subject to force majeure, as
in the case of an inability to provide power supplies. Over the past year
there has been a succession of problems arising from labor disputes related
to redundancies and technical problems at the Tihange station, 45 km south of
Maastricht.
http://www.hbvl.be
ESSERS
TAKES OVER SUPERLINER CARGO
[LOG:
Genk,
February 28]
The Genk logistics group H.Essers is to take over the air cargo transport
company Superliner Cargo in Vilvoorde. The company got into trouble on the
demise of Swiss Air Cargo and Sabena Cargo last year. It has its
client base, 65 tractors and 97 trailers and employs 100.
http://www.vkwlimburg.be
SUBSIDIES
FOR DURABLE CONSTRUCTION
[INFRA:
Heerlen,
February]
Seven of the eight municipalities of Parkstad Limburg have jointly
established a new subsidy called 'DUBO Stimuleringsfonds (DSF)'. Heerlen,
Kerkrade, Landgraaf, Brunssum, Voerendaal, Simpelveld en Onderbanken
established this source of funding to provide encouragement for durable
construction methods, both in new construction and existing construction.
The program is effective as of March 1. Maximum subsidies for new housing are EUR 2,268 for a private house and EUR
1,815 for professional construction. Existing buildings receive 50 percent.
http://www.dubolim.nl
GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION
LIMBURG
AND NORTH BRABANT
[GOV:
Maastricht, March 14]
The Province of Limburg sees no value in a merger between eastern North
Brabant and Limburg. 'Neither does this suggestion appear in the report by
the Geelhoed Commission that appeared yesterday,' said the Governor of
Limburg, Baron van Voorst tot Voorst, in response to media reports. 'The
Geelhoed Commission merely suggests that cooperation between Limburg and
eastern North Brabant is a more obvious proposition that cooperation between
Limburg and Zeeland and we would support this suggestion. We are always
looking for optimal cooperation, but that's something rather different from
a merger,' said Governor van Voorst tot Voorst.
http://www.limburg.nl
MEUSE-RHINE WOMEN
[GOV:
Aachen, March 13]
Meuse-Rhine women will be will be getting together for a party to celebrate
25 years of the Euroregion on May 12 from 11.00 hrs. Information can be
obtained on the Association of Women in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, from
their German president Birgit Derksen on 00.49.2451.41842.
http://www.aachener-zeitung.de
CROSS BORDER CARE
[GOV:
Maastricht, March 12]
Cross border care in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion is a new project which
started March 12 in which hospitals and health insurers are determined to
turn Meuse-Rhine into a European model for cross border healthcare. The
North Rhine Westphalian Ministry for Women, Youth, the Family and Health
already designated Meuse-Rhine as the model region in December 2001 in the
context of its regional competition for 'telematics' (IT) in healthcare. This
was in connection with the international health card with which Dutch
patients insured by CZ and German patients insured by AOK could easily
consult a specialist on the other side of the border. Now a 3-year project
financed by EU Interreg III funding is to start with 18 sub-projects. The
start of the project was also an opportunity to present a new book, the
product of four years of historical research carried out by Belgian and
Dutch historians Twee eeuwen solidariteit: de Nederlandse, Belgische en Duitse Ziekenfondsen tijdens de 19e en 20ste
eeuw [Two centuries of
solidarity. Dutch, Belgian and German health insurers in the 19th and 20th
centuries]. The project and project partners will presumably be listed on
the EMR website in due course.
http://www.euregio-mr.org
meuse-RHINE
police on the same wavelength
[GOV:
Aachen, March 11]
A project to improve communications between the police forces in Meuse-Rhine
is due to start for Belgian and Dutch police in July. It is based on an
Aachen pilot project and will be using the Tetra 25 digital radio system.
The experience of Aachen police with the project has been highly
satisfactory and since July 2001 they have been digitalized together with
customs, the border patrol, federal police, the constitutional defense
office and the fire brigade. Speech quality is said to be much improved.
Dutch and Belgian authorities hope on the basis of positive reports to have
general coverage using this system by 2004. In Germany all should be in
readiness for the 2006 Football World Cup. This report comes from Jörg
Peters.
http://www.aachener-zeitung.de
25TH
ANNIVERSARY PARTY
[GOV:
Maastricht, March 8]
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion there will
be a party at the Landcommanderij Alden Biesen in Bilsen on March 15,
starting at 18.00 hrs. The program includes a welcome by Mrs Hilde Houben-Bertrand,
Governor of Belgian Limburg, followed by a song recital by Mirjam Schreur
and theatre scenes by de Queeste. There will be a keynote address by
Professor Hans Maks on the effects of the introduction of the Euro in
Meuse-Rhine, followed by Tetra Violini on the violin and jazz from Aachen.
There will then be an address on the new communication plan for Meuse-Rhine
by Jürgen Roters, President of Meuse-Rhine and a ballet performance by
Belgium's German-speaking community.
http://www.euregio-mr.org
A MODEL FOR THE FUTURE
[GOV:
Aachen, March 7]
Leitbild 2020 is Aachen's model for the future of Meuse-Rhine. It has been
approved by the City Council and includes the creation of a unified economic
social and administrative area in the tri-border country, where cross border
cooperation will be practiced and Euroregional planning will be achieved.
There is to be a Meuse-Rhine development company on the pattern of the
separate regional development companies, a Euroregional academy of languages
and international schools as well as the systematic development of school
partnerships. Additionally a center for European history is planned and the
creation of a training and employment exchange for Meuse-Rhine. The
Euroregional Council is to be turned into a competent representative
authority able to take decisions with its own budget and administrative
structure. On the science and industry front, Aachen wants to develop a world
profile in automotive research and development, including parts production,
IT, life sciences and new materials. The new life sciences campus is to play
an important role in achieving these objectives. A keynote will also be
internationalization and the cooperation between research and business. The
quality of life is also to play a key role in the plan with improved housing
and facilities for children, in particular childcare.
http://www.aachen.de
OPEN
ACCESS
[EDU:
Liège, March 5]
Subscriptions to scholarly journals is becoming so expensive that it is
becoming a barrier to research. A new international movement, the Budapest
Open Access Initiative, BOAI, is intended to provide access to serials on
line and liberate research. Professor Bernard Rentier, vice-rector of the
University of Liège has written an open letter inviting Liège scholars to
sign the open access initiative manifesto and to contribute to similar
initiatives, devoted to the free circulation of knowledge. At an
institutional level the University of Liège has taken a lead and has opened
up its resources in medicine and biology to on line access in the context of
BioMed Central. A series of links is available via the university
website.
http://www.ulg.ac.be/presse
http://www.biomedcentral.com
UNHELPFUL
EU DIRECTIVES
[GOV:
Roermond, February 26]
The Limburg Employers Association LWV anticipates serious problems when the
new European directive comes into effect on March 1. This directive requires
in the case of dismissals which go to court that the case be heard in the
employee's country of residence. This means that those who live across the
border are going to become involved in highly complex procedures. In
Limburg, for example, many Germans and Belgians work for NedCar or in South
Limburg hospitals. German and Belgian judges will, according to LWV, not be
able to make judgments on their contracts of employment.
http://www.lwv.nl
INFRASTRUCTURAL
INVESTMENT IN DANGER
[GOV:
Maastricht, February 23]
A range of infrastructural investments required in Netherlands' Limburg are
in danger because of the budgetary problems of the central government in The
Hague. These include plans for the widening of the A76 highway, the outer
ring road for Parkstad Limburg, the light rail and the railway marshalling
yards at Sittard. Initially the budget for upgrading the infrastructure was
EUR 15bn, and projects costing EUR 75m had been submitted. In the current
economic situation the budget has shrunk to EUR 5bn. The A2 tunnel through
Maastricht is also apparently in danger. Limburg can expect compensation of
EUR 3.1m, although The Hague is expecting the provinces to pay for
infrastructural developments itself. The cost of the light rail is currently
put at EUR 43.6m which would mean that the central government would scarcely
cover the interest of the project.
http://www.ld.nl
LIFE SCIENCE AND SCI-TECH
FRAUNHOFER GOES WITH
AIXTRON
[TECH: Aachen/Freiburg, March 11]
The IAF Research Institute (Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid-State
Physics) in Freiburg, Germany, has announced the purchase of a new AIX
200/4RF-S system which will be used for developing nitride materials for
ultra-high-brightness blue and ultra-violet light emitting diodes (UHB LEDs)
as well as for the development of violet emitting lasers for optical data
storage.
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) has also qualified the AIXTRON AIX 2400G3HT Planetary
Reactor® System for the mass
production of Ultra-High-Brightness blue LEDs (470 nm). Showa Denko is one
of the leading manufacturers of wafers produced by metal-organic chemical
vapor deposition (MOCVD) and continues to focus on maintaining its world
leading market position and advanced technology level.
http://www.aixtron.com
GETTING USED TO IT
[TECH: Liège, March
11]
Forum Telecom is organizing an afternoon seminar on Tuesday April 3 from 13.30
-18.00 hrs at the Maison de la Métallurgie et de l'Industrie de Liège. The
focus will be on the repercussions caused by the advent of IT on daily work in
small business. The meeting will be chaired by Pierre Colle from the Walloon
Ministry of Economics, Small Business, Research and Technology, who will be
able to provide information on up and coming news on government policy in
e-business. He will be followed by Stéphane de Baenst of Avvisi and Olivier
de Wasseige of DefinITion, who will discuss the objectives and potential of
e-business. The program is available on the link below.
http://www.liegeonline.be/tic/forum/agenda.html
DSM PUROX PLANT IN
ROTTERDAM
[IND: Heerlen. March 11]
DSM Special Products recently started producing Purox B (a preservative,
widely used in the chemical industry in resins, engineering plastics and
base chemicals) and Purox S (a safe preservative in
food products, one of the most widely used preservatives in the food
industry in beverages, fruit products, sauces, jams and salads) at
its new facilities in Rotterdam (Netherlands). These new DSM grades of
benzoic acid and sodium benzoate, respectively, represent a breakthrough in
terms of product quality and purity. The performance of the benzoic acid
facility is so good that DSM has decided to introduce a food and pharmaceutical
grade of Purox B as well. The new product meets all requirements for benzoic
acid grades imposed by the pharmaceutical and food industries. The new DSM
specialty for the food and pharmaceutical industries will be on the market before
the end of this month. With the start-up of the new facilities, DSM has more
than tripled its production capacity for benzoic acid, while its capacity
for sodium benzoate has more than doubled. The integrated production complex
will enable DSM to respond successfully to the growing demand for
top-quality products.
http://www.dsm.com
MORE GRAPHICS FROM ELSA
[TECH: Aachen, March
11]
Elsa is adding three new models to its workstation graphic cards series. The
new graphic cards for professional 2D and 3D applications are based on
the NVIDA quadro4 chip and offers high end graphic performance for the most
demanding visualization requirements. The quadro4 XGL technology has achieved
world record performance.
http://www.elsa.de
ON LINE MONEY
[TECH: Aachen, March 9]
The Technology Forum for Telecommunications at the Chamber of Commerce in
Aachen is providing information on making on line payments, receiving and
transferring money and the digital signature with talks by Anita Heitmann of
the University of Karlsruhe and Dr.Norbert Pohlmann of Utimaco Software AG. in
the grand foyer of the Chamber in Aachen on Wednesday March 20 from
17.00-19.00 hrs.
http://www.ihk-aachen.de
TWENTY YEARS OF TAKEDA PHARMA
[Life-Sci: Aachen, March 8]
Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. was originally founded in 1781
and registered as a company in January 1925 in Osaka Japan. It is capitalized
at USD 450m and employs close to 16,000 worldwide. It produces
pharmaceuticals, healthcare, food and agricultural products and
chemicals. Revenues exceed USD 8bn with 76 percent of its production is in
pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. The company held a special reception
at the City theatre in Aachen to mark its 20 years of establishment in the
city. Its pharmaceutical specialties cover a range of medications, used to
combat high blood pressure, prostate cancer, diabetes mellitus, erectile dysfunction,
which gives an indication of its concern for the aging males in our society.
Of the 500 employed from its base in Aachen, 60 percent are women and 40
percent men. The company has played a pioneering role in developing the
angiotensin-II-receptor antagonist blo press. In diabetes it has been
successful in re-activating the body's own insulin and has also developed new
therapies in arteriosclerosis. The company's prowess was admirably illustrated
by transparencies at the press conference, but the echoing foyer of the
theatre made the speakers rather difficult to hear.
http://www.takeda.de
TAPELESS VIDEO LOGGING
[TECH: Liège, March 3]
The EVS BOW (Browsable On-air Witness) is a tapeless Video Logging recorder.
It records in loop-mode on removable hard disk packs, doing away with the
expense of tapes. A BOW behaves like a web server for remote browsing via a
standard Intranet. Any PC with an Internet browser will do to browse and
replay video segments.
A few Asian broadcasters have
already adopted this fascinating technology : VTV of Vietnam has put the BOW
in service for logging, as a direct replacement of VHS machines. SCTV of
Indonesia is using the device to witness the aired commercials and provide
proof for the billing department. The Hong Kong branch of AT&T finally,
is using BOW for technical surveillance of signal quality; a downstream
return channel is received from satellite, decoded and monitored permanently
via the EVS BOW.
http://www.evs.tv
CRM, HACKERS AND OTHER IT STORIES
[TECH: Aachen, February 28]
Deutsche Industrie Service DIS AG, which has increased its capitalization by
233 percent from EUR 114.7m in 1997 to EUR 382.8m today, held a symposium on
IT services in Aachen on February 28. Topics covered were increasing
revenues by the targeted use of customer relations management (CRM) and sales force automation (SFA). These topics
with the assistance of TorQue EDV GmbH. It then gave a live demonstration of
a hacker attack to illustrate the issue of IT security with the assistance
of Gandke & Schubert GmbH and finally discussed the temporary employment
of experts on IT projects.
http://www.dis-ag.de
CYCOS AT CeBIT 2002
[TECH: Alsdorf, February 21]
Cycos AG is presenting its services at CeBIT 2002 in Hanover (13.-20. March
2002) under the banner "We take Care of Your Business". This year,
Cycos will be setting the new standards for Unified Communications on
approx. 100m² of exhibition space in hall 13, stand D09/1. The
enhanced product version mrs 5.0, features TRUE Unified Messaging, i.e.:
messages from the primary mail system, e.g., Microsoft Exchange or Lotus
Notes, no longer have to be replicated, instead, they can be left on the
original mail system. WebAdmin and ERGO-Script, will be demonstrated to the
public for the first time ever. This year's motto for the trade fair
underlines the software provider's market position, which besides
manufacturing unified messaging software also provides multi channel
solutions.
http://www.cycos.de
LEISURE
PELLEAS ET MELISANDE
[LEI: Beringen, March 14]
Claude Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande will be getting a Meuse-Rhine
première in the Beringen casino almost 100 years after the opening in Paris on
Wednesday April 17. There will be a performance in Theater aan het Vrijthof on
April 20. The Limburg Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Ed Spanjaard, Kees van der Burg
is directing Anthony Marber sings Pelléas and Celeste Gattai Mélisande.
http://www.lso.nl
HISTORY SERIES
[LEI: Eupen, March 12]
The cultural action group KAP is presenting a series of six talks on the
history of Belgium's Eastern Cantons. Major speakers, largely contemporary
historians, will be giving the lectures in the Eifel villages. The first was
held on March 12 in cafe Rauschen in Rott on the topic of Eupen-Malmedy from
1914-1940.
http://www.brf.be
THE SPANISH SUCCESSION
[LEI: Maastricht, March 10]
The NH Golden Tulip hotel in Maastricht, Benelux hotel of the year for 2001,
marked its transition to the Spanish NH Hoteles group (annual revenues EUR
762m) with a celebratory dinner for leading clients and the press on March 10
presided over by General Manager Anja Loijen.
Guests included former Olympic swimming champion Ada Kok and journalists from
Amsterdam and South Limburg. The celebratory dinner was a 12 course menu that
lasted for half as many hours and was cooked by two of the group's most
eminent chefs, Pascal Jalhaij, the Michelin-starred chef of the Vermeer
restaurant in Amsterdam and Paco Roncero of the equally distinguished
Michelin-starred Casino de Madrid. After a selection of amuses washed down by
the odd glass of champagne and more than one bloody Mary, the troops started
on the assault course proper. Frothy Spanish omelettes, a salad of green
vegetables and smoked salmon with a poached egg, smoked eel and steamed veal
tongue were merely the starters. The main courses included an exquisite Ceps
carpaccio, guinea fowl in puffed pastry, red mullet and Anjou pigeon. These
were enough to prepare the true trencherman for the pre-dessert, a semolina
ravioli. Then came the real desserts, with a Casino de Madrid tiramisu and a
chestnut mousse. It was an evening replete with so many delicacies that even
the most dedicated of trenchermen had to call upon extra reserves to stay the
course. As to the wines, an excellent Austrian Chardonnay was worthy of note,
as was the Manzanilla sherry so seldom encountered nowadays. This sort of
manifestation is going to give the Golden Tulip quite a reputation and is sure
to draw clients from further away than the MECC.
http://www.nh-hotels.com
FIVE PHOTOGRAPHERS AND LIEGE
[LEI: Maastricht, March 7]
Galerie Wolfs in the Hoogbrugstraat in Maastricht is holding an
exhibition of five photographers and the city of Liège from March 7 through
March 30. The photographers on view are Jean-Luc Deru, Vincent de Waleffe, Eva
Bergrath, Yves Dupuits and Gustaaf Begas.
http://www.galeriewolfs.nl
THE PRINCE BISHOP RETURNS
[LEI: Maastricht, March 1]
The Rijksmuseum and the Bonnefanten museum have announced a cooperative
agreement. This involves the long-term loan of approximately 80 paintings,
tapestries and glasswork from the southern Netherlands currently part of the
Rijksmuseum collection which will be shown in Maastricht. Together with the
big names: Brueghel, van Dyck, Jordaens and Goltzius,
works from the late 15th and 17th century religious art, still-lifes and
landscapes, there is Jan van Vermeyen's portrait of the great 16th century
Prince Bishop of Liège Erard de la Marck, a friend to Erasmus and Thomas
Moore and the builder of the Prince Bishop's palace in Liège. He was also the joint
sovereign of the bonne ville of Maastricht.
http://www.bonnefanten.nl
TOURISM IN MEUSE-RHINE
[LEI: Heerlen, March 1]
5plus, the cooperative organization for tourism which links Aachen, Hasselt,
Heerlen, Liège and Maastricht is going on the web with the assistance of
Interreg II funding. The five cities are also participating in the
international tourism fair in Berlin March 16 through March 20. See more at
their site.
http://www.5plusnet.com
MANJEFIEK JOINS MAASTRICHT
CULINAIR
[LEI: Maastricht, March 1]
Restaurant Manjefiek has joined the 12-strong Maastricht association of
restaurants known as Maastricht Culinair in the 17th year. This was also the
occasion for a new brochure devoted to the group with art work by Guy van
Grinsven and text by Maurice Hermans. Wiel Rekko who already enjoys a
reputation as one of Maastricht's best cooks also runs an art gallery
adjoining his restaurant. During the TEFAF, Europe's leading fine art fair,
this has become a refuge for many leading dealers and Laanstra & Partners,
from The Hague and St.Job in 't Goor, have made it their home away from home.
http://www.manjefiek.nl
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