On March 26, the CLS held its annual General Assembly Meeting in a hybrid format,via Teams and at the lovely facilities of AstraZeneca Portugal. The annual report of 2023 was presented as well as the activity plan and budget for 2024.
Rosário Trindade, Corporate Affairs & Market Access Director at AstraZeneca, welcomed our members to the beautiful venues of AstraZeneca. Rosário shared AstraZeneca´s history and mission, their operations in Portugal, their R&D, and their CSR and ESG approach.
At the second call, the President of the General Assembly, Susanne Hägglund, opened the General Assembly Meeting and greeted all participants welcome. This was followed by a short presentation from the Ambassador of Sweden to Portugal, Elisabeth Eklund, upon the current agenda of the Embassy, cooperation between the Embassy and the CLS, and the added value of the cooperation of Team Sweden.
The General Assembly Meeting then continued with a presentation made by the Chairwoman & President of the CLS Board of Directors, Jennifer Ekström who shared the CLS Annual Report of 2023. A year focused on strengthening the collaboration with corporate members, further collaboration between Team Sweden, and, growing the CLS engagement within and beyond its community. We can all be proud of how the CLS has grown and been transformed during the last years.
Furthermore, Carlos Oliveira, Treasurer of the CLS, presented the financial statement of 2023. 2023 was a step back towards financial stability, with an almost break-even result. CLS applied a cost-efficient and more conservative approach, to obtain organic and long-term growth and financial stability.
After the presentations, the voting’s commenced where the following items were approved:
The CLS Social Bodies - triennial 2023-2025
Previous CLS Board Member and former President, Hans-Erhard Reiter, decided to step down from his long-term dedication to the Chamber and position as Board Member of the CLS. The CLS thanks Hans-Erhard for his long-lasting and faithful contributions, developing and leading CLS to what it is today. He has been a reference and a key pillar for the CLS throughout the last almost two decades as well as an important stakeholder for the Swedish-Portuguese business relations.
The replacement of Hans-Erhard will be announed during 2024.
Carl-Magnus Stensson, Managing Director at Essity Portugal, was approved and much welcomed as the new Vice-President of the General Assembly.
Finally, the President of the General Assembly, Susanne Hägglund, closed the General Assembly Meeting 2024 and all the guests present at AstraZeneca enjoyed some delicious pastries over a morning networking.
On behalf of all CLS Boards and Organization, we would like to thank everyone who participated in the CLS General Assembly Meeting 2024, as well as all of our community for the continuous engagement and contribution.
We wish you all a thriving business year, looking forward to create value and impact with you all!
