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Copenhagen region ranks 3rd in western Europe for attracting head offices
A new survey shows that the Copenhagen region is 3rd in terms of attracting foreign head offices and among the top 10 in western Europe for attracting investments.
The Copenhagen region is among the top 10 regions in western Europe for attracting foreign investments and 3rd in terms of attracting foreign head offices, surpassed only by London and Paris. So reveals a new survey comparing the Copenhagen region with 346 other regions in western Europe, conducted by the Danish Enterprise and Construction Agency and the capital region of Denmark.
There are 2,100 foreign companies located in the Copenhagen area, of which approx. 500 are Scandinavian head offices, representing a wide range of industries. Strong Danish business clusters in sectors including life sciences and IT help attract head offices and R&D divisions from abroad. One of these is the German biotech giant Sartorius Stedim Biotech, which is currently creating a Nordic head office in Tåstrup on the outskirts of Copenhagen. Sartorius produces process equipment for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
“We chose Copenhagen in preference to Stockholm because Copenhagen with its Medicon Valley is one of the strongest and most interesting biotech regions in Europe at the moment,” commented Henrik Krogen, director of Sartorius Stedim Nordic A/S.
“Medicon Valley is the place in Europe where most new products are entering clinical testing, and it shows how innovative and strong in research the region is. To us, it means that we can product develop our equipment in direct collaboration with our customers, and that gives us an edge,” Krogen said.
The US, UK and Germany are the largest foreign investors in Denmark.
Denmark ranks 2nd in digital administration
A new UN survey shows that Denmark is among the world’s best at digital administration. Denmark is only surpassed by Sweden, while Norway takes third place.
The “UN E-Government Survey 2008” assesses how good the individual countries
are at creating value for citizens, companies and authorities through digital administration, for example self-service solutions on the internet, better access to relevant information and improved dialogue between the public sector and citizens and companies.
In the last year, Denmark has also gained high scores in several international IT surveys and has been ranked the world’s best IT nation by the independent and acknowledged institute the World Economic Forum and The Economist Intelligence Unit in collaboration with IBM.
50 years of creative play
Children spend 5 billion hours per year playing with a Danish invention – LEGO bricks. The world famous little building brick celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year. And its popularity is continuously increasing after a minor downturn for the most electronic variants in the range. LEGO is now focusing again on its core products: building bricks that challenge children to build the most amazing constructions. The versatility of LEGO is documented by the fact that just six identically coloured 8-stud bricks can be combined in more than 915 million different ways.
LEGO dates back to 1932, when the self-employed carpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen began making wooden toys. In 1947, he invested in his first plastic moulding machine, and in 1958 the first LEGO brick, as it is known today, was patented. The Lego name is a contraction of the Danish words ’Leg Godt’ (meaning Play Well), but it also means “I put together” in Latin.
http://www.lego.com
– and 50 years as a design icon
The Egg – the world famous Danish architect Arne Jacobsen’s chair, which has achieved iconic status among the world’s designers – was taken into use for the first time 50 years ago at Royal Hotel in Copenha-gen. It was the first hotel in the world where everything from door handles and furniture to lighting, textiles and cutlery were designed by Arne Jacobsen.
The chair is more popular today than ever before and can be seen throughout the world at famous and exclusive museums as well as in private homes and design hotels. The chair is still being manufactured by the Danish furniture factory Fritz Hansen, which is making a series of 999 unique chairs to mark The Egg’s 50th anniversary.
The limited edition includes, for the first time, chocolate-brown suede on the back and dark chocolate-brown leather on the front. The frame is made in hand-polished bronze. Each chair is engraved with its own unique number under the seat cushion together with a brief text on the history of the chair.
http://www.fritzhansen.com
From nowhere in 2006 to Best Debut at the Wallpaper Awards 2008. The Danish design company Mater has achieved a meteoric rise in the exclusive realm of the design industry.
Mater is a Copenhagen-based company with a strong vision, creating timeless and beautiful designs based on an ethical business strategy. Mater combines exclusive high-end home accessories with working methods that support people, local craft traditions and the environment.
The Angle Chopsticks have been created by French designer Aurelien Barbry for Mater. They are made in stainless steel with a nesting block in lacquered bamboo, and are produced at a small factory employing just 20 staff in the Chinese province of Zhejiang. The bamboo block is made from eco-friendly bamboo from Vietnam and lacquered according to a traditional method.
PILGRIM launches international franchise concept
JEWELLERY: After an intensive period of concept development, test shops and training, Danish jewellery and accessories company PILGRIM is now launching its international franchise concept on selected focus markets. Currently, the company is seeking partners in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Ger-many, UK, France, China and the Middle East.
Although the history of PILGRIM dates back to the early 80s, it is only within the last 3 or 4 years that the PILGRIM brand has really taken off. Today, the company counts itself among the fastest growing international brands in fashion jewellery and related products. According to international franchise manager Dennis Hansen, the company’s “recipe for success” comprises three key ingredients: the products with their creative and sometimes startling designs are affordable and enhance the customer’s own unique and individual personality, the branding strategy is highly visible, and there are more than 5,000 partners and retailers around the world to bring PILGRIM products the last part of the way to the customer.
Under the new franchise concept PILGRIM promises that new partners will be able to run a professional shop where every major aspect of the retailing is catered for – from financing, setting up and launching to marketing and promoting the shop.
http://www.pilgrim.dk
Denmark excels at IT equality
In 2007, Denmark was judged the world’s best IT nation. The country also ranks No.1 in terms of IT equality, according to a survey from the EU Statistics office Eurostat which measured the proportion of European men and women who visit the electronic universe on their computer on a daily basis. On average, 48% of male citizens between 16 and 74 years in the EU use their computer or the internet on a daily basis, while for women the figure is 39%. Among Danish citizens the corresponding figures are 72% for men and 68% for women.
According to Professor Niels Ole Finneman, Head of the Center for Internet Research at the Institute of Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus, the figures confirm the trend from other surveys.
“The high ranking is due to the fact that we have a modern, well-developed welfare society in Denmark, where the proportion of educated people is high for both men and women. There is also a historical reason in that Scandinavian women entered the labour market far earlier than in other EU countries,” he commented to the Danish national daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
Denne side er kapitel 1 af 18 til publikationen "FOCUS Denmark".
Version nr. 1.0 af 28-03-2008
Publikationen kan findes på adressen http://www.netpublikationer.dk/um/8770/index.htm
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