We have had a very productive month here at the embassy with several initiatives and high profile visits dominating the scope of our work in the last month.
As you know, it is a priority to ensure that ADBC is actively involved in all aspects of our Embassy activities whenever possible. We want to create value for our members and generate synergies and opportunities. The last couple of months have provided us with many occasions to do just that.

At the end of March the Danish Prime Minister visited Washington, D.C to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit. In connection with that we hosted a very successful event in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce on the importance of TTIP. I was pleased to see so many ADBC members in attendance and it gave us an excellent platform to highlight the strong commercial ties between Denmark and the US. You can read more about the event in this Newsletter. The CEO of Confederation of Danish Industries Karsten Dybvad joined the event and we used that occasion to release a brochure to promote Danish-American trade relations (Link) and the Prime Minister presented a new action plan for growing Danish exports to the U.S. (Link).

Recently, I was pleased to be involved in the U.S – Nordic Leaders’ Summit held here in Washington D.C. The leaders of all five Nordic countries had a summit with President Obama to address several key topics such as, Security & Defense, Migration & Refugees, Climate Change & Energy and not least Trade and TTIP. Denmark was strongly represented in both the meetings and in the joint statement. On top of that, Denmark will be taking the lead within wind and clean energy in a new bilateral agreement with the U.S (see below). You can read more about these activities and see the pictures here in the Newsletter.

Denmark’s initiatives within the offshore wind energy sector are being recognized globally and in particular by the U.S. This development was further strengthened by the signing of an MOU signed by BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper and I last week, which seeks to promote information sharing, best practices and policy initiatives to support development and regulation of offshore wind energy resources. The MOU signals the serious intent by the U.S. to pursue clean & green energy, an area in which Denmark is happy to share its extensive knowledge.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kristian Jensen attended a reception highlighting bi-lateral and commercial ties between Denmark and the U.S. The reception was hosted by the Embassy in collaboration with ADBC and the Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus on May 12th. I was pleased to see so many ADBC members and congressional representatives present. The event was a great success giving ADBC members the opportunity to actively engage within political and commercial networks. You can read more about the event in the Newsletter.

To top off this great period of activity the Embassy opened its doors to the public on May 14th as part of the annual EU-Open House here in Washington D.C. The daylong event was a great success and gave several ADBC members the chance to showcase their companies to more than 3000 people. We were pleased to host Kelsen Cookies, Terma, Novo Nordisk and Novozymes.
I think it is realistic to say, that The American Danish Business Council is thriving. The Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus initiative, the event in the American Chamber of Commerce, and our recent EU-Open house further demonstrate the platform that ADBC is able to offer its members.

Finally, I would like to welcome the two newest members of ADBC, Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Meabco A/S. I am very pleased that ADBC is reaching its goal of a 40% increase in members this year.
I would like to thank all ADBC members and staff involved for their valuable contributions without which these events and unique initiatives would not be possible. I look forward to continued collaboration.
Kindest regards
Lars Gert Lose