Comments
The small European country of Denmark, which fiercely likes to wear the clean technology developer tag on its sleeve, is a haven for Indian small and medium businesses aiming to grow in a secure and hassle-free business environment.
Moving mostly on bicycles and public transport, the Danes have already set milestone achievements to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels by 30 per cent in 2020 and to zero in 2050, says Mr Shanker Subramaniam, Senior Investment Manager for India and Singapore for ‘Invest In Denmark,' a federally-funded investment promotional agency.
AREaS OF OPPORTUNITY
This literally opens up huge area of opportunity for small and medium companies in the IT sector in India as well as other countries in the larger Asia, which Denmark is focusing on for increased interaction and collaborative ventures.
Among the best players in renewable energy and clean technology, Denmark is already an acknowledged leader in harnessing biomass, solid waste and the winds as major sources of renewable energy.
The country is investing heavily in smart grid technology to handle energy being generated from disparate sources and for storage and evacuation purposes, Mr Subramaniam said. This is an area where small and medium business IT companies in India can collaborate with home-grown ventures.
SMALL SIZE
Some of these Danish companies cannot claim to have more than 15 to 30 employees, and this explains their fondness for foreign collaborators which can relate to this size.
Mr Subramaniam was on a visit to Kerala at the invite of the Group of Technology Companies (Gtech), a grouping of small and medium IT companies in Kerala.
A Gtech-State Government team led by Ms Ishita Roy, Director, State IT Mission, and comprising Mr Binu Sankar, Chief Executive Officer, GTech, and Mr Mervin Alexander, Chief Executive Officer, Technopark, had visited Denmark in recent times.
Preliminary steps to forge partnerships between GTech and the Danish companies have come to be initiated following the visit. The Danish counterparts are expected to pay a visit to Kerala during the next six months, Mr Subramaniam said.
COMFORT LEVEL
According to him, no other State in India has been able to bring small and medium businesses on a platform where interactions such as these can develop. For the Danes, this only serves to raise the comfort level and ease of doing business with their Kerala counterparts.
Mr Subramaniam also proposed the idea of ‘business tourism' initiative between Kerala and Denmark to give the inbound traveller the experience of mixing business with pleasure.
As for the Danes, the best known destinations in India are Rajasthan, Goa and Kerala. The famed marketing skills of Kerala Tourism have been able to sell the State as a destination to the world outside. Given this context, a suitably designed ‘business tourism' initiative can work out very well for mutual benefit.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.