New Delhi: "Environmental protection has become a matter of global concern...No country can achieve satisfactory results in the long term by pursuing isolated environmental policies." The remark came from Poul Nielson, Danish minister for Development Cooperation who was speaking at a business meeting on Thursday organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Embassy of Denmark in co-operation with Green City, Denmark.The mainstay of Danish industry has been technologically advanced equipment and system in the areas of energy efficiency and energy savings, waste treatment and cleaner production. Danish companies in the field of environment are visiting India to share their expertise with Indian counterparts and are taking part in Environment India exhibition.
Indo-Danish bilateral trade crossed the DKK 2-billion mark for the first time in 1994 and increased to over DKK 3 billion in 1995. This spurt in trade was largely due to Danish exports of wind turbines and parts to India. But withthe slowdown in development of the wind energy sector in India during the past two years, Danish exports fell to DKK 1237 million in 1996 and DKK 797 million during January-November 1997. But the potential remains strong. Moreover, exports from India to Denmark have been steadily increasing.
According to Neilson, in case of India, the Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) will focus on agriculture, health, water & sanitation and environment and renewable energy. Apart from wind energy, Danida is also pursuing utilisation of biogas. Denmark is offering mixed credits or soft loans available under the Consensus Agreement on OECD guidelines for mixed credits.
Another financing instrument being offered by the Danish government is that of Private Sector Development Programme (PS-programme). The aim is to assist long term business-to-business cooperation between Indian and Danish private firms. "Environmental issues are high on the agenda for the PS-programme."Danish business life is dominated bysmall and medium-sized companies. A typical Danish industrial concern begins with a single owner and is based on that person's idea and his or her savings. A good idea grows to become an international business. More than 75 per cent of Danish companies employ less than 50 people.
In keeping with this, the Danish government has invited small and medium-sized companies from other countries to have a base in Denmark. The Indian businessmen, on their part, can contact the Danish authorities here and make use of the help being offered to them.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
