The Danish government’s new ‘Germany Strategy’

Sep 29, 2019 | Green Investment Hub

The Danish government will concentrate more on Germany: Targeted business promotions and support for young Danes in German internships is the way forward. Almost a third of the state funds available for export promotion in 2016 and 2017 will be spent on Germany. The government has allocated a total of 20 million Danish Kroner over the next two years.

READ THE STRATEGY HERE

The Danish Government will facilitate access for Danish companies to Germany, Denmark’s largest export market, with its new Germany-strategy.

According to the government, there are still enormous, but untapped, export potentials for Danish companies in Germany.

By comparison, Denmark’s export to Sweden is 12,000 kroner per Swede. Were you to calculate export to Germany in the same way, the same number would only be 1,800 kroner per German.

Danish export to Germany is characterized by the fact that only a few large companies account for 90 percent of the export. Therefore, 5 million Kroner has been allocated specifically to help SMEs get started on the German market.

In total, nearly one-third of the total amount of funds the Danish state will make available for export promotion in 2016 and 2017 will be spent on the German market. The funds amount to 20 million Kroner over the next two years.

Strengthened presence

Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen explains how Demark is gearing up in Germany:

– As a first critical step, we will strengthen our official presence in Germany so there are more resources to assist Danish companies. In Munich, we are upgrading the Consulate to Consulate General. And we will reopen the consulate general in Hamburg,  he says.

– We also want to pave the way for Danish expertise and solutions, developed in close and fruitful cooperation between the public and businesses. In several areas, Germany is in the process of transitions, which we in Denmark have already advanced. This is true in the energy sector, the health sector and the digitization agenda, he points out.

Criticism of language action

In Denmark, the German language has lost ground in favor of English over several decades. The government has also set aside a smaller sum of money for projects that will help Danish trainees in internships at German companies.

The government will also increase its focus on the need for German language classes from elementary school and up throughout the education system.

The government’s new strategy has been criticized for not being ambitious enough in re-establishing a broader knowledge of German as a key prerequisite for increasing exports to Denmark’s southern neighbour. According to Flensburg Avis the criticism comes from the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Consultancy house, Mindlab Global Solutions- among others.

Both institutions want to include German as a compulsory subject in the education system once more as to counter the massive rejection of the Germ

Share with

Latest Posts

GREATER4H Grant Agreement signed in the European Parliament

GREATER4H Grant Agreement signed in the European Parliament

Today, the Acting Director of CINEA Mrs. Paloma Aba Garrote and the GREATER4H Project Coordinator from Schleswig-Holstein Mr. Werner Schwarz, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Areas, European Affairs and Consumer Protection are formally signing the GREATER4H Grant...

read more
Join the GREATER4H kick-off event

Join the GREATER4H kick-off event

On March 27, 2023 STRING and Land Schleswig-Holstein are initiating the GREATER4H Hydrogen project by bringing together policy makers from the STRING megaregion as well as participants from the hydrogen industry and representatives of the European Institutions, DG MOVE, the European Commission and CINEA.

read more
STRING welcomes its newest member: The German city of Kiel

STRING welcomes its newest member: The German city of Kiel

We are happy to announce, that during the Political Forum meeting on the 9th of February 2023 at the Science Center in Kiel, the city has been officially approved as a STRING member. The focus on development and deployment of hydrogen technologies is just one of...

read more