Going a step further from its already existing trade office in Bangalore, the Denmark government has opened  its 'Invest In Denmark' office in the city, in an effort to woo Indian companies, especially IT companies, to set up their operations in Denmark.

Announcing the launch, Asia Regional Manager, Thomas Christensen, said the 'Invest In Denmark' office will act as the official gateway responsible for implementation of investment promotion activities through intensive co-operation with the Danish business community and regional authorities for Indian companies looking to set up business in Denmark.

This initiative was taken because of the perfect match between Indian companies interested in penetrating the Northern European markets and Denmark's advantages as a location for foreign companies. India has shown its IT supremacy to the entire world and the role of Bangalore in this respect has not gone unnoticed in Denmark. In fact, this is exactly why Denmark established a trade office in Bangalore in 1999, said Jakob Andersen, Trade Commissioner of Denmark to Bangalore.

In this regard, Christensen and Andersen said, they were holding talks with several IT companies in Bangalore to explore the possibilities of opening their operations in Denmark. The officials are talking to some 20 IT companies for starting activities in Denmark.

With its high IT penetration, Copenhagen (Denmark's Capital) has been rated by the PriceWaterhouseCoopers study as the most favourable site for e-business centres in Europe. Copenhagen has emerged as not only a major growth centre, but also the business gateway for the entire Northern Europe. This has only been possible due to massive construction in recent years that can be attributed to the opening of the bridge linking Copenhagen and Sweden last year. Denmark is now home to headquarters of companies like IBM, Sony and Dell, Andersen said.

The Danish government is optimistic about generating an interest among the Indian IT companies especially with the slowdown in the US economy. The slowdown in the IT industry is also being felt in the Denmark. Since April last year, the industry has been characterised by reduced growth and as a consequence, Danish companies prefer working with overseas IT companies. The time therefore is ideal to explore the possibilities for starting up activities in Denmark, said Christensen.

Though L&T, TCS, Sonata, iFlex Solutions, Aprosoft and Procon have a presence in Denmark, Indian investments are minuscule, according to Jakob Andersen.  There are about 10 IT-companies and only two of them have full fledged offices in Denmark.

We are also looking at the Indian biotech industry, besides offering to promote telecom, electronics, pharma, organic food and shared service businesses, he added. A skilled human resource base, low operating costs, labour flexibility, good business environment, with over 40 incentives, a taxation scheme offering 50 per cent less taxation than usual are the advantages, Christensen concluded. The Bangalore office is only the second Asian one and has been set up within two years of opening a trade commission

The new Denmark

• 5.3 million people
• GDP $173.8 billion; GDP per capita: $32,675
• Inflation rate: 2.1 per cent
• No heavy industries but lots of small and medium industries
• Quality of labour: Denmark is ranked No.1 in the world with regards to availability and qualification of human resources : Total labour force: 2.87 million.
• Real estate cost in Copenhagen (Denmark's capital) is one of the cheapest in Europe.
• IT penetration: Danish households have the world's highest level of internet connection (52 per cent)
• Companies: 13,000
• Consultancy    : 71 per cent
• Manufacturing : 7 per cent
• Telecom         : 1 per cent
• Others           : 21 per cent


What the future holds for Denmark

• A recent benchmark study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Copenhagen emerged as the most favourable location for e-business centres in Europe.
• According to the new `Innovation Index’ from the US council of competitiveness, Denmark will be the fourth most innovative country by the year 2005.
• Denmark holds the 8th place in the world's most competitive countries, according to the World Competitiveness Year book.
• European Readiness Index from the World Economic Forum, ranks Denmark as the country most ready for the future.

Mr. Jakob Andersen
Danish trade Centre
No. 16/1, Vittal Mallya Road
Bangalore