As the year comes to an end, I want to wish all of you all the best for the holidays and the coming year.  Although I have only been in Washington a short time, I am very pleased with the progress we have made with the American-Danish Business Council.

In the beginning of the month of December, we had our annual Creative Christmas event. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Creative Christmas at the Embassy of Denmark where we celebrated what is quintessential Danish – our healthy lifestyle! This year we were joined by renowned restaurateur and chef Claus Meyer. Claus and his team had prepared a Nordic menu with hints of Danish Christmas traditions. I was very pleased to see so many of the ADBC members attend the Creative Christmas reception. In that context, I want to thank our sponsors from the American-Danish Business Council for the support and cooperation we have experienced in making Creative Christmas possible in 2015.

At the Annual Meeting we had the possibility to present the new direction of ADBC in 2016. The goals I have set for myself as Ambassador and for the Embassy are clearly focused on our role in commercial activities – creating growth and value for Danish companies in the US and facilitating more investment in Denmark from US commercial interests.  Economic Diplomacy is an important tool for achieving these goals, and ADBC is a strategic partner in this work.

Stephen Brugger from AmCham Denmark also joined us at the Annual meeting to speak about our shared goals on transatlantic cooperation, the Transatlantic Company of the Year award and increased collaboration between AmCham and ADBC.

On behalf of all of us at the Embassy and the American-Danish Business Council, I want to wish you all happy holidays and a very prosperous New Year.

I look forward to continuing our collaboration in 2016.

/Lars Gert Lose,