After a Danish trade seminar and bilateral talks between the Danish and Philippine Trade ministers, the Danish Minister expressed confidence that Danish companies will gain a larger share of the Philippine market.
The conference room in Dusit Thani Hotel, Manila was buzzing with life in the morning January the 23rd. A Danish Trade delegation that flew in from Vietnam the day before to witness the opening of the new Danish Embassy in the Philippines, were having a seminar with potential new business partners.
The seminar was divided into three, covering the sectors agriculture, sustainability and healthcare. Danish Minister of Trade and Development opened the Seminar together with his Philippine counterpart Secretary of Trade and Industry Gregory L. Domingo. After opening the seminar the ministers went into a secluded room for bilateral negotiations. From outside the meeting room loud laughs were frequently heard.
“Yes there is a reason to be cheerful, we are re-opening our embassy, and there is a great interest from Danish side, to further engage with the Philippines. Of course, we are already present with more than a hundred Danish companies, but we brought another load with this delegation and it looks very, very positive in terms of further cooperation,” Mogens Jensen says.
Gregory L. Domingo, also seemed pleased with the prospects of future cooperation, he presented several ideas that combined the high cost and high value of Danish with the low costs in the Philippines. One example was that because of the 250.000 to 300.000 Philippine seafarers worldwide, there are a lot of Maritime Schools in the country, and Denmark happens to be a producer of simulators that can be used in these educations.
As a vast archipelago a lot of the Philippines’ 7000 islands are not connected to the main power grid, Mogens Jensen suggested that putting up Danish wind turbines on secluded islands would be a mutually beneficial cooperation between Denmark and the Philippines. Naming several other Philippine sectors that would be suitable for Danish investments, Mogens Jensen expressed confidence that Danish companies can gain a larger market share compared to other foreign investors.
“The companies that come here from Denmark, are world leading in the technologies, products and services they offer, so I believe Danish companies are really competitive,” Mogens Jensen said “Presently the Philippines is not that important to Danish exports (in 2013 the export was worth DKK 700 million according to Mogens Jensen’s advisor), but it is not relevant what it is now, the relevant thing is that we can expand and from our side we have a goal, or the ambassador have a goal, of doubling the export.”
