By Mohammad Ghazal

AMMAN - Denmark is committed to further enhancing ties with Jordan in various sectors and supporting programmes and projects that directly relate to people in the Kingdom, according to Danish Ambassador in Amman Thomas Lund-Sorensen.

"Jordanian-Danish ties could be much closer. We probably do not know enough about each other. We have many things in common. We have almost the same number of population. We have no raw materials except brainpower. We have to live from the skills of our people. So I think we share a lot of experiences and can bolster cooperation," the Danish envoy told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Official diplomatic ties between the two countries were established in 1958, according to the Danish diplomat, who noted that as far back as the 1920s there were Danish archaeologists working with Jordanian colleagues at the Mount Nebo site.

The ambassador, who stressed that the bilateral trade volume is "much too low", called on Jordanian businesspeople to explore potential sectors where they can boost cooperation with their Danish counterparts.

The annual average of Danish exports to Jordan stands at about $50 million, while imports amount to around $2 million.

The Kingdom mainly imports pharmaceuticals, dairy products, juices, machinery and steel from Denmark, while it exports pharmaceuticals, vegetables and nuts to the Scandinavian country.

Noting that the establishment of the Danish embassy in September last year was the best sign of enhanced relations between the two countries, Lund-Sorensen voiced hope for further cooperation between Jordanian and Danish businesspeople to boost the trade volume.

"Denmark is a country that is not scared of globalisation. We try to outsource a lot of our production in areas where production is less costly but still of quality, and this is one of the areas where Jordan has something to offer," he said.

"But what is very important is that Jordanian businesspeople themselves look for what they can offer to the Danish market and I am not just talking about vegetables and nuts. I am talking about something more substantial," the ambassador said.

“What is important to us is high quality pharmaceuticals at the lowest possible price and this is actually where Jordan might have a possibility to increase exports,” he said.

During the interview, the diplomat also noted that Denmark has been involved in supporting projects in Jordan in areas related to good governance, directly addressing issues related to people such as family protection and preventing violence against women and children.

Denmark also assisted Jordan in drawing up the law on the Ombudsman Bureau, an independent organisation established in April to review complaints lodged against any decision or procedure by official institutions, through extending and exchanging expertise.

He added that his country is now moving towards supporting programmes related to schools and universities, and decentralisation of government and municipalities.

"At this embassy we try to focus on enhancing the ties between young Jordanians and their Danish counterparts. We want to reach out to communities where we are not well-known and we do that by implementing different types of projects and programmes," the ambassador said.

"It is very important to us that our cooperation takes place between peoples and not only between governments… We always try to get our NGOs and people to be involved with the Jordanian side," he stressed.

One area where Jordanian and Danish businesspeople can cooperate is the energy sector, according to the diplomat.

"The time is really right for cooperation in the energy sector and energy-saving devices. Jordan has decided on a new energy strategy that will move energy production from fossil fuels to locally produced renewable energy and since Denmark is the world's best in renewable energy I think that it is obvious there is a great potential for cooperation here," he said.

"This year there will be high demand for any item that will reduce the cost of heating and consumption of electricity after Jordan lifted subsidies on fuel derivatives. Energy conservation is one of the areas Denmark is very good at," Lund-Sorensen reiterated.

“Since 1980 our consumption of energy has been stable, which means zero per cent growth, while at the same time our gross national product has grown 75 per cent. That is totally uncommon among all other countries, where you normally link economic growth to an increase in energy consumption," he said.

This is an area where Jordanian businesspeople should seize the moment and get in touch with Danish businesspeople," he pointed out.

Turning to tourism, the diplomat said about 4,000 Danes visited the Kingdom during the first eight months of this year, a figure that is low compared to the number of those going to Egypt.

"Jordan has some of the things that Danish tourists look for... They look for nice weather, cultural activities and events…The weather and cultural activities are very good in Jordan… Soon when Aqaba and the Dead Sea are more developed, it will be a good occasion to advertise in order to attract more tourists from Denmark," he said, noting that the absence of a direct flight between the countries affects the number of arrivals.

Asked about the boycott of Danish products following the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers he said: "The whole thing [cartoons] shows that we need to understand each other better. We need to understand the sensitivities of both our countries. We need to work on that."

The boycott actually hurt some Jordanians, mostly importers of dairy products, the ambassador said, adding that there was no significant impact on other items.