by Maarten Brouwer
May 19, 2016 – At the Mint Directors Conference in Bangkok Maarten Brouwer receded from his office as General Secretary of the MDC. Here you will find his remarks on chances and challenges this organization will face in the future.
Maarten Brouwer (l.) at the MDC in Bangkok with Dr. Peter Huber, CEO of the Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg. Photo: UK.
During this spectacular night in Bangkok at the end of my 12 year tenure as Secretary General of the MDC, it gives me great pleasure to address some words to all of you who I have learned to know and I have met during so many Conferences.
Let me start by saying that I have proudly served the MDC during the past 12 years to the best of my capabilities, with enthusiasm and drive. You have always encouraged me to do so.
The MDC offers a unique platform between suppliers, coin related organizations, customers and the Mints. Through worldwide cooperation, applied technical research and marketing related discussions, the MDC committees have contributed a lot to better insights in our business.
We all are very much aware that we depend on fair and healthy business conditions. Yesterday, at the occasion of my last MDC Internal Affairs meeting I have shared strong arguments with the Mint directors for starting a professional staffed Public Relations Committee in order to at least counterbalance the presently biased public communications with regard to the utility of cash. The voice of the mint industry in the many discussions about cash – non cash, deserves to be intensified.
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the presidents and vice presidents of the MDC during my years as Secretary General. The dedication, and professional skills that are required to organizing the Conferences have been remarkable every time again. The friendship that resulted from this cooperation even more. The dedication of the chairmen of the MDC committees have been crucial for the success of the MDC during all these years. You can be proud on the achievements under your leadership. Working with you has always been inspiring to me and many others. You have managed to mobilize many experts from Mints for the benefit of the coin industry with a stunning amount of papers offering new insights and advancements.
There were so many of you that I became to learn better through the years, you have meant a great lot to me. You have kept me sharp, you gave me energy and you brought me unique friendships that will last many years after I leave behind my duties as the Dutch mint master.
I regard it as a favor that you have asked me to be your Secretary General for the past 12 years. It was worth the efforts every single day.
Change, Challenge and Opportunities, the pay off of this 29th Mint Directors Conference, applies not only to this conference but also to me personally.
The Change is evident, as from the end of this week my tenure as Secretary General will have come to an end. I am not the person that will sit still. Ross, I fully entrust the important MDC duties into your hands. That will definitely lead to changes, you will give content to these duties in your own way. May you be successful with fulfilling the inspiring responsibilities as the new Secretary General of the MDC. You can rely on my support also in future whenever you call on me.
The Challenges for the mint industry in the decade ahead of us are commonly recognized, waiting to be answered under new leadership. My challenge consists of finding new and interesting roads for the years to come. I would wish that my experience and knowledge in the field of international business developed during my career, can contribute to the better performance of others in as well as outside this unique mint industry.
In the good spirit that we all share, Let us not wait to enjoy harvesting all the fantastic opportunities already identified. I wish all of you good health, success and hopefully we see each other again soon.
More information about the MDC 2016 you will find in CoinsWeekly’s report about it.