By IANS,
Copenhagen : The Danish government aims to boost exports to emerging economies, including India, by 50 percent within the next five years, it said in a report here.
The value of Danish exports to growth markets will reach 90 billion Danish kroner ($15 billion), up from a current 60 billion kroner ($10.5 billion), the report said Wednesday.
Exports to China is a priority, the report added, given China’s huge domestic market, and the strong presence of Danish companies and manufacturers there.
The strategy came as the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are expected to outpace the G7 rich country group by as early as 2025.
“If we don’t take note of this situation and don’t focus our exports on these countries, we will lack money in our state coffers,” said Danish Trade Minister Pia Olsen Dyhr, adding that the country’s export earnings underwrite much of its spending on public welfare.
“We are shifting our export focus, so that it is not only on our near markets, but also on the BRIC countries,” she told Xinhua following the launch of the strategy at the Danish parliament Wednesday.
The strategy seeks to boost exports, build trade cooperation, attract foreign direct investment and create jobs in Denmark, within the context of emerging markets.
It also calls for emerging economies to invest twice as much in Denmark as they have already done between 2005 and 2010.
Overall, exports comprise some 50 percent of Denmark’s gross domestic product (GDP), with the export sector responsible for creating some 700,000 Danish jobs.
However, just 7.3 percent of Denmark’s total exports went to the BRIC countries in 2011, while 63 percent went to near markets in Europe, according to Danish trade ministry data.
Beyond 2015, up to two-thirds of growth in Danish exports will take place in “distant markets”, as Dyhr put it.
Thus, while Danish exports to China in 2011 were worth 15.1 billion kroner (around $2.7 billion), their value could rise by 20 percent in 2012 alone, the trade ministry said.
Denmark also wants to leverage its strength in agricultural exports and allied food industries, which constitute 20 percent of Denmark’s total exports.