ISLAMABAD - Denmark Ambassador to Pakistan, Jesper M Sorensen, has said that Pakistan can benefit from expertise gained by his country in meeting the energy needs.
Briefing journalists here at his residence, he said that Denmark has something to offer Pakistan, which is facing a serious energy challenge. "We have started a dialogue with Danish businesses about these opportunities in Pakistan," he added.
Ambassador Sorensen said Pakistan at the moment was facing crippling power crisis and Danish companies could help it generate electricity through wind power by investing in Sindh Corridor, which according to a recent survey, had a potential of producing 55000MW wind power. He was of the view that initial investment in the renewable energy is expensive but with the development of technology, it would become cheaper, adding that for instance, the running cost of solar panels has come down and some Danish companies have started installing solar panels in some private houses in Pakistan, though at a limited scale.
He pointed out that Denmark leadership has declared to turn the country as fossil-free nation by 2050.
"Danish companies are global leaders in green energy and energy efficiency. In these areas, Denmark has something to offer Pakistan, which is facing a serious energy challenge. We have started a dialogue with Danish businesses about these opportunities in Pakistan," said Sorensen.
Pakistan, being an agriculture country, needs to use its water resources more efficiently and can learn a lot from Danish companies. Similarly, it is the 5th biggest producer of milk in the world but only 4 per cent of it is processed so there was a huge potential of cooperation between the two countries in the field.
There is a also a scope of installing solar-run water pumps in Pakistan, he added. The envoy said he was working on bilateral visits of businessmen delegations from both the countries for establishing their contacts to explore possibilities of cooperation in joint projects for their mutual benefit.
About bilateral trade between Denmark and Pakistan the ambassador said his country was keen to exploit the business potential in Pakistan for bolstering trade between the two countries and Danish Pakistanis could play a pivotal role in this regard. He said it was for the first time that Denmark had set up a Commercial Section in Islamabad, dedicated to explore avenues dedicated to explore avenues of investment for Danish companies which saw Pakistan a new market-though they had some concerns. There are 2500 Danish of Pakistani origin living across Denmark who have contacts back home and can be very helpful in promoting trade between the two sides, he said.
Pakistan at the moment is exporting about $169 million of goods mainly textiles besides providing Information Technology services to Denmark while Danish exports to Pakistan are worth $224 million, comprising special machinery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals items.
"We want higher trade between the two countries. Our exports to Pakistan are reasonable and Denmark wants to export more to Pakistan that shows that is a great potential," the ambassador added. He said he visited Denmark last month and spent a whole week trying to explain to Danish businessmen there was a huge potential to do business with Pakistan, particularly in field of agriculture and energy.