AndersenNews January 2016
Danish Food & Food Processing Technology Delegation to Myanmar 2015
Danish Thai Chamber of Commerce corporate member Andersen Consult ApS with financial support from the Danish Trade Council and the Danish Government’s Danida Business Delegation programme were one of the first business delegations to visit Yangoon following the successful election in Myanmar. Although all parties remain a bit uncertain of the coming transition of government, the general mood was highly optimistic and thankful for a peaceful election process.
An energetic and high spirited delegation of 14 Danish companies within food and food processing industry visited Yangoon from 16-19 November 2015. The group had a clear focus to offer Myanmar Danish know how and equipment to support the Myanmar food sector and its strive for increased output and quality. Danish companies in dairy, confectionery machinery, milling technology, industrial cooling systems, fisheries and related technologies were receiving a warm welcome and interest.
The companies attracted more than 60 local Myanmar companies for individual B2B matchmaking meetings at Sule Shangri-La Hotel in Yangoon. The delegation under guidance of the experienced Andersen Consult team had a very clear “hands on” approach where great efforts had been made in cooperation with Andersen Consult’s Myanmar counterpart to identify the right local entrepreneurs for the Danes to team up with and ensure meetings being set up.
A fleet of a dozen cars with English speaking business coordinators ensured that the Danish companies effectively could follow up on initial contacts by individual field visits to the potential Myanmar companies for further discussions and direct on site business evaluation. More than 30 such visits were completed and the general feedback from the participating Danish companies were optimistic. One of the local companies confirmed a re-visit to Denmark for inspecting production line equipment in February 2016. Mr. Franz Gammelgaard-Schmidt of Danish company Mille Baby A/S later stated during the delegation’s debriefing session that he never experienced such concrete results from his many participations in various business delegations. “Hands-on, active and totally business oriented – I look forward to the next trade delegation by Andersen Consult” was his conclusion.
Andersen Consult is specialized in developing small and medium company clusters so they can offer complete project solution to companies in emerging markets and developing countries. Through these networks Danish entrepreneurs are enabled to effectively set up partnerships and get professional guidance to utilize the various government facilitation programs which otherwise would have been difficult for individual small companies to access.
Author: Stig Vagt-Andersen, Andersen Consult Regional Representative Mekong Region
Article published at Danish Thai Chamber of Commerce's website.
