Denmark Presents New Action Plan to Increase Exports to the U.S.

By State of Green | [email protected]

29 January 2014

Denmark’s Minister for Trade and European Affairs, Mr. Nick Hækkerup, launches action plan to drive up Danish exports to the U.S. by 25% before end of 2016:

"The United States is ready to purchase again and the goods that Americans demand are to a great extent some that Danish companies excel at producing, which is why the timing for this action plan is good, says Hækkerup.

The action plan, entitled 'Vækst via Eksport: Danmark-USA' (translation - 'Growth through Exports: Denmark–USA'), contains 23 concrete growth initiatives within export, investment and innovation intended to help Danish companies become even better at capturing the great potential in the U.S. market. In addition to gaining significantly increased exports the action plan can attract more U.S. investors to Denmark as well as strengthen collaboration on innovation.

Information behind the action plan

The American economy is the world’s largest with an expected growth of 19% from 2012 to 2018. The EU and U.S. are currently negotiating an extensive free trade agreement, potentially able to raise exports from the EU to the U.S. by nearly a third. According to calculations by Copenhagen Economics, Danish exports could increase by EUR 1.88 billion per year once the agreement has been fully phased in.

During the past 4 years, Danish exports to the U.S. have experienced a significant increase. Today total exports amount to nearly EUR 13.4 billion; a figure expected to rise by 10% during 2014.

Further to the point, a number of trends can be spotted in American development that match Danish competences: The U.S. health sector is undergoing significant change, among other things leading to 35 million new patients on health insurance; rising water consumption and wastewater challenges in the U.S. create great demand for Danish water technologies; food security and health are main themes on the agenda for both authorities and consumers; and finally there is an increasing demand for Health IT and digitalisation of public services.

The action plan is launched by the Trade Council – Ministry of Foregin Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Building, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health.

Download the Action Plan here (in Danish only)

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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