“We believe that there is a great potential to increase cooperation between Danish and Romanian companies”

>>>Interview with HE Mr. Søren Jensen, Ambassador of the Royal Danish Embassy in Romania on the bilateral economic relations
By Constantin Radut
-What has been the evolution of bilateral trade and your estimates for the years 2018/2019?
-Trade between Romania and Denmark has been steadily increasing. Exports from Denmark to Romania grew from 230 million Euro in 2008 to 335 million Euro in 2017. Romanian exports to Denmark grew from 74 to 261 million Euro in the same period. We expect this development to continue. Forecast show a very positive trend with expected 6% increase in trade in 2018 and 7,5% in 2019.
-Is there currently a formal framework for entrepreneurial cooperation between companies in the two countries (association, agreements, contracts, etc.)? What are the most significant cooperation projects?
-Denmark and Romania do not have such formal agreement. However, the Royal Danish Embassy in Romania is in dialog with many Danish companies interested in the Romanian market . We are also promoting the Romanian market in Denmark in order to seek and attract new companies to the market. The Danish Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy in Bucharest are targeting small and medium size Danish enterprises, offering them special assistance programs to promote engagement, including in Romania. In addition there are many Danish companies active in Romania with their own organisation or being partners with Romanian companies.
-Do you appreciate that there are areas where a better partnership between governments and / or companies should be started at bilateral level?
-Danish companies are not always aware of the possibilities in the Romanian market. This is why the Embassy actively promotes better knowledge of the market and seeks to facilitate business contacts. An important prerequisite for a sound business environment and for attracting more foreign businesses, including from Denmark, is a stable and predictable political and legislative environment. Romania offers many business opportunities that would benefit from this. We believe that there is a great potential to increase cooperation between Danish and Romanian companies, including in such areas as digitalisation, innovation, ICT, agriculture, renewable and sustainable energy, energy efficiency, health care and other sectors.
-In the field of foreign investments, what are the sectors in which companies in your country have invested in Romania and what projects are in the attention of companies in your country? What Romanian investments are now on the business market in your country?
-Danish companies have invested and are very active in areas like agriculture, ICT, energy and energy efficiency, transport and logistics and retail. Within agriculture Danish companies have invested in several areas, including crop production, pork and chicken production, as well as the production of cheese and beverages. Several Danish companies are active in ITC field. We expect that more players will look towards Romania in the near future. There are also some important investments in terms of energy and energy efficiency products already established in the market and a new large investment is under construction. There are large Danish players which invested in all areas of transport and logistic from sea to road transport and also to logistic and multimodal centres. Finally, a large Danish retailer has establishes business in more than 60 locations in Romania, bringing affordable Scandinavian style household products to the Romanian consumer. (September 17, 2018)