ISLAMABAD - Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan, Jesper Moller Sorensen, said on Saturday that he saw lots of scope for joint ventures between Danish and Pakistani companies, especially within energy efficiency and agriculture sectors. Agriculture, energy and dairy is an area, where there is huge scope for collaboration but the specific projects have yet to be identified.
“I feel we are making progress. Two weeks ago, the CEO of Denmark’s largest company by stock valuation, Novo Nordisk, visited Pakistan. Next week, we have another important visit within energy. And in two weeks, we have an agriculture delegation coming in,” he told APP in an exclusive interview here. The envoy said a prominent Danish company BW Volund, specializing in biomass and waste-to-energy, is visiting Karachi next week and will meet representatives of seven Pakistani companies to discuss specific projects.
This company has built more than 500 waste-to-energy and biomass production lines worldwide, and is among the world’s leading suppliers of equipment and technologies for waste-to-energy plants.
“Like Pakistan, Denmark has a long agriculture tradition. We have thousands of companies involved in the agriculture, farming, and dairy industry. But where should we focus - on seeds, dairy products, cows, milk, or equipment? I see lots of opportunities, but we need to have a better understanding ourselves. Now we have a team coming to Pakistan that will help us identify exactly which areas are most relevant”.
The delegation will do a “deep dive” to examine the exact opportunities for more Danish-Pakistani collaboration. It will also be looking at areas for institutional cooperation.
“Over six days, they will visit farms, and meet with companies, research institutions, and government officials in different places in Pakistan,” which would help crystallize new business opportunities.
When questioned on Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif government’s initiatives to facilitate the foreign investors, he said, “In some respects, Pakistan actually has a business-friendly environment. The financial regulatory framework is good. Yet improving the security situation is the single most important thing for Pakistan. It would certainly make it easier to attract Danish companies.” Sorensen was confident that he could bring a Danish business delegation within energy and energy efficiency to Pakistan before the end of the year. “I sense a simmering of interest among relevant Danish companies. Within the next two months, two conferences on Pakistan as a commercial market, are scheduled to take place in Denmark”, said the envoy.
Recently, Sorensen has been to Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Sialkot, and Gujrat to meet businessmen and government officials. He has offered to facilitate contacts with Danish companies, although he also points out that not all are convinced. “Yes, there is lot of interest in Pakistan among companies, among officials, among partners. Honestly speaking, the real challenge is not the Pakistani side, but rather to get Danish companies to dare Pakistan. Most companies conclude by default that Pakistan is just too difficult, and that is chiefly because of the security situation” he told Akram Malik in an interview.
The Ambassador stressed that he was not satisfied with the current level of trade. “Some Danish and Pakistani companies have excellent partnerships. Yet I am convinced that our trade ties can become much stronger”, said Sorensen. The total Danish exports to Pakistan are worth $224 million, out of which $98 million were goods while $126 million were services. Pakistan exports to Denmark were $169illion, out of which $101 million are goods while $68 million are services, said the ambassador.
Answering a question on his recent meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shabaz Sharif, Sorensen said the discussion was frank and forward-looking, and that many different issues came up.
“We basically discussed our joint ambition which is to expand ties between our two countries: socially, people-to-people, politically and also commercially.”He also informed the Chief Minister that Denmark has come a far way with renewable energy over the last four decades. In December 2013, more than 50 per cent of all energy was generated by wind turbines.
“So wind energy and biomass-to-energy are two examples of areas where Danish companies have something to offer to Pakistan which is facing an energy shortage,” the ambassador said.