 |
 |
||
      |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Navigation:  Home News |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In this issue:Meetings in the Chamber of Commerce in the first half of 2005Danish Export to the US on a Downward Trend Despite the dollar, Denmark remains attractive Dollarfald kræver øget tilstedeværelse i USA Liberal Conservative Government Continues After Parliamentary Election on February 8th Three rich Danes among zillions of Americans - and a few others The Danish Design Project at MoMA - phase 2 US market for Danish Design Products Danish-American Business Summit 2005 Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial Ads: SAS DFDS Icelandair Dorte Tulet Usine.dk |
March 2005Introduction from the PresidentDear Chamber Member As is the case with all living things, the Danish American Chamber of Commerce must change or suffer the consequences of not adapting itself to its surroundings. This electronic Newsletter is just one of the changes. We also have a new webpage, a new Board of Directors and a new Secretariat. The Danish American Chamber of Commerce in New York is an organization of businesspeople each one of whom is equipped with an e-mail address. It seemed appropriate to spare costs as well as trees by e-mailing the Newsletter to each of our members. That was an easy decision. Times change and our old webpage was showing its age. It was difficult to update, and generally needed a makeover. One of our new Board Members, Ulrik Meinertz, has now created an excellent webpage, which we hope our members will visit early and often. That too was an easy decision. It was also an easy and necessary decision to invite a number of our members to join the expanded Board of Directors of the DACCNY. The makeup of the new Board now more clearly reflects the membership as a whole, with its large and small companies, startup operations, and companies that have had an established presence in New York for decades:
I would like to use this opportunity to thank our former Executive Director Jeanette Hemstad for her years of devoted and effective work for the DACCNY. Her own recommendation that we accept the offer of the Danish Consulate General to serve as our new Secretariat made what would otherwise have been a difficult decision an easy one. Peter Hessellund-Jensen President |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 To the top |
Publisher: Danish American Chamber of Commerce One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza 885 Second Avenue, 18th Floor New York, NY 10017 Nargis McGuinness, Executive Director T : (212) 705-4945 F : (212) 754-1904 E : daccny@daccny.com W : www.daccny.com Copyright by the Chamber. All rights reserved. Written permission required for reproduction in any form |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Peter Hessellund-Jensen President |
Meetings in the Chamber of Commerce in the first half of 2005Until mid-March the Chamber has hosted the following events:Deputy Director General for the Confederation of Danish Industries speaks at DACCNY On January 7, 2005 Jørgen Kristian Hansen, the Deputy Director General for the Danish Confed-eration of Industries in the area of business development spoke to the members of the DACCNY at its New Years Reception held at the Danish Consulate General. Jørgen K. Hansen spoke on the theme of "Challenges and Opportunities for Danish Companies in 2005", and also gave the members his long term perspectives of the respective futures of the great trading blocks of the world. The presentation was followed by a stimulating question and answer exchange between Mr. Hansen and the DACCNY members. Hans Christian Andersen Gala Dinner at the New York Public Library On February 1, 2005, at a joint event with the Danish Consulate General and the Danish American Society to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Hans Christian Andersen, the DACCNY held a reception and Gala Dinner at the New York Public Library. The event was attended by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. The Danish actress Susse Vold presented several of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. The members were treated to songs by the Copenhagen Boys' Choir and music from the Scandia Symphony Orchestra. Special MoMA Tour For Members of the DACCNY On March 3, 2005 DACCNY members were given a special tour of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) after its $850,000,000 renovation and its restaurants and galleries becoming showcases of Danish furniture and accessories. The DACCNY members were greeted by MOMA Director Todd Bishop and Deputy Director Karen Davidson. The tours ended at MOMA's 2nd Floor Café where the Consulate General's Commercial Affairs Officer Jesper Kamp de Fønss and Cultural Attaché Irene Kraus presented the Danish Design Project. Afterwards, several of the members stayed for dinner at MoMA's fine dining restaurant, The Modern. For the months to come the plans are as follows: New Danish Tax Proposals On March 31st we will have a meeting at the Consulate General at 5 pm concerning the consequences for Danish companies and their subsidiaries of the new Danish tax proposals. Invitations have been sent to the members. Prospects for US economy In April or early May we are planning to have a meeting in cooperation with other Nordic Chambers of Commerce concerning the prospect for US economy and the US dollar for the year to come. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Advertisement: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Svend Roed Nielsen Royal Danish Consulate General |
Danish Export to the US on a Downward TrendOver the last years, Danish export to the United States has unfortunately been on a downward trend. In 2001 Danish export to the US market amounted to more than DKK 29 billion, but since then we have seen a not dramatic, but unfortunately steady decline. In 2004 Danish export was down to less than DKK 26 billion, and from November until the end of January this year we saw a further reduction compared to the same period the year before of almost 2%.The reduction in Danish export covers all sectors except medical, pharmaceutical and chemical products which have more than doubled from DKK 2 billion in 2000 to more than 5 billion in 2004. Not surprisingly, the main reason for the reduced overall Danish export is the decline in the value of the US dollar compared to the Euro/DKK. Unfortunately, there is no reason to expect any up-ward trend of the dollar value in the near future. Most financial and economic advisors in the big New York banks and financial institutions are predicting further decline in the dollar value com-pared to the Euro this year in the range of 5-10%. It is evidently the huge twin deficit in the US economy; the public budget and the trade balance which is driving this development. There has been no indication in the Bush Government's economic policy to suggest any significant reduction of these two deficits in the near future. However, it is important to remember that over the last years there has been a significant increase in the supply of Danish goods to the US market directly from Danish companies established here in the US. There is no solid statistics for the amount of this "internal export" but it is of considerable and growing importance. In the present dollar situation more Danish companies could benefit from moving parts of their production or other costs to the US or other dollar markets. In order to motivate companies in Denmark to make an extra effort on the US market it is important to also point to some of the very positive trends in the US economy. The high growth in the GNP level in the range of 3 ½ - 4 ½ per cent, almost double of what we see on our main export markets in Europe - give special possibilities for increasing our export to the US market. The growth is strong both when it comes to private investments and private consumption. Other European com-panies, however, have been better than Danish companies at using this increased market, and we have unfortunately lost market shares over the last years. Another factor that clearly limits the Danish export to the US market is the exaggerated fear of product liability. Many Danish companies have only read the sometimes dramatic stories in the Danish media where companies have lost millions of dollars in court cases or settlements in situa-tions where their products have been seen to have negative consequences for the consumers. The US product liability rules are special and Danish companies have to take special measures, but in most cases it is possible to limit the risk to a manageable level without unreasonable costs. Companies must have the right insurance, products must be well-tested, and the manual must in-clude more details, descriptions and warnings than we are used to on many European markets. In order to better inform Danish companies of how to deal with product liability and other legal is-sues on the US market, the law firm Haight, Gardner, Holland & Knight will, in cooperation with Danish American Business Forum, hold seminars in Denmark during the spring where experts from Haight, Gardner, Holland & Knight will give their best advice to Danish companies and be ready to assist them on an individual basis. Hopefully such information will convince more Danish companies to enter the US market and do it in the right way, and through that increase our export to this interesting market. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Invest in Denmark |
Despite the dollar, Denmark remains attractiveInvest in Denmark, part of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is seeing an increasing interest from American companies for establishing activities in Denmark to cover the Nordic & Baltic re-gions. The organization has its North American headquarters at the Consulate General of Denmark in New York, covering the US and Canada.Director Helle Meinertz confirms this trend: "Last year, we assisted 9 North American companies in establishing activities in Denmark. All of them are using Denmark for Nordic, and sometimes even European, activities. An example is Canadian ITXchange LLC, a leading distributor of secondary market personal computer products. The Danish subsidiary provides services to its clients all over Europe." Helle Meinertz continues: "Furthermore, the pipeline for 2005 looks very promising, with 5 projects already confirmed, and several others almost ready to set up their Danish operations." One of the biggest projects of the first months of the new year has been French-American air cargo operator Worldwide Flight Services (WFS). It is the world's largest air cargo operator. They have entered an agreement with Copenhagen Airports to establish a DKK 75 million (USD 13.3 million) air cargo terminal. WFS has leased a large land area for 30 years, and will start building a 7,000 m2 terminal in a few weeks. It is expected to be in operation by February 2006. Yves Pinoy, director of WFS, says the new terminal will have direct airside access to the aircraft. Initially, 60,000 tons of cargo will be handled annually by aircraft as well as trucks. Lars Korup, air cargo manager of Copenhagen Airports, says it is very satisfying to have a new air cargo operator in the airport: "It will give us improved opportunities to attract new airlines to Copenhagen Airport", he adds. There is also an impressive interest for Danish strongholds within biotech/ pharma and IT/Telecom. Invest in Denmark is working with several big pharmaceutical companies who are looking closely at Denmark, and especially the Medicon Valley region, for in-licensing projects and strategic alli-ances. The reason for their interest is the high level of competencies within the biotech area in Denmark. Global pharmaceutical companies are facing an increasing gap between expenses on research & development and new products ready to market. That is why they are so interested in getting access to development skills in Denmark which is done by in-licensing to the benefit of both companies. Within IT/Telecom, Invest in Denmark has just assisted Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors, in setting up their first wireless European design center in Copenhagen. Broadcom selected the Copenhagen locale based on its close proximity to several of the world's leading cellular equipment manufacturers. The region also provides a wealth of engineering talent resulting from these companies. The initial de-sign efforts will focus on cellular handset development including hardware and software design, integration and testing. The opening of this Nordic design center in Europe demonstrates Broad-com's continued expansion and investment in Europe, particularly in the mobile and wireless markets. "The opening of this design center expands our engineering capabilities to support our growing mobile and wireless business in Europe," said Robert A. Rango, Group Vice President for Broad-com's Mobile & Wireless Group in a press release. "The cellular and wireless markets represent large potential markets for Broadcom. Being strategically located near some of Europe's largest cellular equipment manufacturers will enable us to work more closely with them in developing next-generation mobile solutions." The overall picture for 2005 is very positive. As part of the strategy to strengthen Invest in Denmark in North America some organizational changes will take place during 2005 and more activities will be consolidated in New York. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Advertisement: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
David Bentow Børsen |
Dollarfald kræver øget tilstedeværelse i USADen danske generalkonsul i New York råder danske eksport-virksomheder til at etablere sig i USA for at dæmme op for følgerne af den svage dollarSiden 2000 er den amerikanske dollar blevet 37 pct. mindre værd målt i kroner. Det er noget, som for alvor er begyndt at gøre ondt på danske eksportører til USA og andre dollar-afhængige markeder, fordi det enten tvinger dem til at hæve priserne eller til at acceptere lavere profit på deres salg. Den eneste varige løsning på det problem er, at de danske virksomheder sørger for på den ene eller anden måde at etablere sig i USA, mener Svend Roed Nielsen, generalkonsulen i New York. At det fortsatte dollarfald gør ondt på mange danske virksomheder, er tydeligt på det danske generalkonsulat i New York, der står for en stor del af eksportstøtten for danske virksomheder, der vil ind på det amerikanske marked. "De gule lamper er blevet tændt på grund af dollarfaldet her, og vi hører også stigende bekymring over situationen i Danmark, selv om det rammer meget forskelligt for forskellige brancher," siger generalkonsul Svend Roed Nielsen. Intet tyder imidlertid på at problemet vil forsvinde foreløbigt. Stephen Jen, global chef for valutaanalysen i investeringsbanken Morgan Stanley, tror ganske vist at dollaren vil blive styrket over for euro og kroner i 2005, men nøgleordet bliver volatilitet. "Vi vil se øget valutavolatilitet i 2005. Og selv om den stærkere økonomiske vækst i USA burde støtte dollaren, så vil det fortsat stigende underskud på betalingsbalancen fortsat lægge pres på dollaren. Og kombinationen af de to kræfter vil betyde øget volatilitet," mener Stephen Jen. Det vil, alt andet lige, øge usikkerheden for danske virksomheder med en omkostningsbase i kroner og salgsindtægter i dollar. "Der er ingen tvivl om, at situationen er alvorlig for danske virksomheder, og vores samtaler med amerikanske bankøkonomer og investeringsbanker indikerer, at der ikke er nogen tegn på, at problemet forsvinder," fortsætter Svend Roed Nielsen. Eliminer eksponering Han mener dog ikke, at det betyder, at danske virksomheder skal trække sig fra verdens største marked. Men det betyder, at mange bliver nødt til at forsøge at eliminere deres eksponering mod udsving i valutakurserne. "Den eneste varige løsning er at flytte udgifter fra kroner til dollar, og vi ser da også, at et stigende antal virksomheder diskuterer en egentlig etablering i USA med os," fortæller generalkonsulen. Undersøgelser fra blandt andre Dansk Industri og Danish-American Business Council viser, at mange danske virksomheder indtil nu har været tilbageholdende med at etablere sig fysisk i USA. Dels på grund af store fysiske-, tidsmæssige- og erhvervskulturelle forskelle og dels fordi de mange små og mellemstore danske virksomheder traditionelt har været tilbageholdende med at foretage de ofte betragtelige investeringer, som er nødvendige for at etablere sig på et stort og fjerntliggende marked. Alligevel mener Svend Roed Nielsen, at flere danske virksomheder bør overveje at etablere sig i USA, enten med en salgsfunktion eller i større stil med forskning og udvikling, eller direkte produktion. "Vi er klar over, at det kan være et stort spring. Men vi mener, at det er nødvendigt i dag. Derfor har vi også ændret vores strategi over for danske virksomheder. Hvor vi tidligere kontaktede danske virksomheder, der slet ikke eksporterede til USA, så vil vi fremover forsøge at mindske etableringstærsklen for dem, der allerede har en eksport," siger Svend Roed Nielsen. Som en konsekvens af den ændrede strategi vil generalkonsulatet i 2005 udvide den fysiske kapacitet i kontorlokalerne på Manhattan, så flere danske virksomheder kan få mulighed for at leje sig ind hos konsulatet. Det er nødvendigt, fordi der i dag er en venteliste for at leje kontorer på generalkonsulatet. "For at holde omkostningerne nede kan danske virksomheder begynde med at etablere et kontor hos os, hvor infrastrukturen allerede er på plads. Det kan enten ske ved at sende egne medarbejdere herover eller ved at etablere et virtuelt kontor, hvor vores medarbejdere optræder som repræsentanter for en virksomhed," siger Svend Roed Nielsen. Meget udsatte Det er en taktik, der falder godt i tråd med en nylig analyse fra Dansk Industri, der påpeger, at eksportører, der anvender distributører, ofte er meget udsatte og har sværere ved at opnå salg end virksomheder, der direkte etablerer sig på det amerikanske marked. "Jeg mener, det er uhyre vigtigt at sænke etableringsbarrieren, og det tror vi, at vi kan hjælpe med, blandt andet fordi mange etableringsproblemer går igen, som eksempelvis opnåelse af visum, fysisk etablering og skabelse af kontakter til kunder og rådgivere," siger Svend Roed Nielsen. "Man kan naturligvis også vælge at holde sig helt væk fra det amerikanske marked. Men så fraskriver man sig ikke kun verdens største og mest købedygtige marked, men også et marked, hvor den økonomiske vækst en del år frem i tiden ventes at være større end i Europa," påpeger Svend Roed Nielsen. "Jeg tror, at vi vil se en ændret omkostningsstruktur over det næste års tid, og det kan ikke undgå at gøre ondt. Men min største bekymring er, hvis man allerede er på det amerikanske marked og trækker sig ud af markedet igen, for det vil gøre det næsten umuligt at komme tilbage, hvis man først en gang har forladt kunderne," siger Svend Roed Nielsen. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Svend Roed Nielsen Royal Danish Consulate General |
Liberal Conservative Government Continues After Parliamentary Election on February 8thAlmost 84% of the Danes who had the right to vote actually cast the vote at the Parliamentary elec-tion on February 8th 2005. The result was a confirmation of the Parliamentary basis for Prime Min-ister Anders Foegh Rasmussen's Government. He can now continue the liberal conservative Gov-ernment with Parliamentary support from the party to the right, (the Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti).The big winner in the election was the Social Liberals (Det Radikale Venstre) - a center party - which almost doubled its numbers of mandate and now has a total of 17 of the 179 members of the Danish Parliament. The parties who lost mandates were the Social Democrats, losing 5 mandates, the Liberals with a loss of 4 mandates, and the Christian People's Party losing all 4 of their man-dates. The new Danish Parliament now looks as follows:
In the week following the election the Government started their internal discussions on their new policy paper. During the past 4 years the VK Government has focused very much on immigration and integration. For the next Governmental term, Denmark as part of the global economy will be on the top of the political agenda. In the policy paper the Government commits itself to turning Denmark into one of the leading countries in the world within Research and Development, increasing the investment in this area to more than 3% of the GNP before 2010. Furthermore, Danish companies have to focus even more on knowledge-intensive production as well as design and innovation. Danish universi-ties have to become more internationally oriented and better at incorporating the private sector. In order to create more employment, entrepreneurship has to be encouraged through less bureauc-racy and better tax schemes for start-up companies as well as more venture capital. The whole education policy in Denmark will be given high priority by the new Government. One of the strong liberal ministers, Bertel Haarder, has been appointed the new Minister for Education, and major reforms of elementary schools, universities and more specialized schools are to be ex-pected in the coming years. The new Government looks as follows: Prime Minister: Anders Fogh Rasmussen Minister for Economic and Business Affairs: Bendt Bendtsen Minister for Foreign Affairs: Per Stig Møller Minister for Finance: Thor Pedersen Minister for Employment: Claus Hjort Frederiksen Minister for Justice: Lene Espersen Minister for Culture: Brian Mikkelsen Minister of Education and Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs: Bertel Haarder Minister for Transport and Energy: Flemming Hansen Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation: Helge Sander Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries: Hans Christian Schmidt Minister for the Interior and Health: Lars Løkke Rasmussen Minister for Development Cooperation: Ulla Tørnæs Minister of Defence: Søren Gade Minister for Social Affairs and Minister for Gender Equality: Eva Kjer Hansen Minister for the Environment and Minister for Nordic Cooperation: Connie Hedegaard Minister for Taxation: Kristian Jensen Minister for Refugees, Immigration, and Integration Affairs: Rikke Hvilshøj Minister for Family and Consumer Affairs: Lars Barfoed |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Advertisement: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Bente Bundgaard Berlingske Tidende |
Three rich Danes among zillions of Americans - and a few othersUsually, the world eagerly awaits the yearly list of billionaires - in US dollars, naturally - published by the American business magazine Forbes. Not least, it helps with the fundraising.But for the Danes there were no surprises this year. Three rich men - shipping supremo Maersk McKinney-Moeller, Jørgen Mads Clausen of Danfoss and Lego's Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen - were re-peats from last year. As usual the list was heavily dominated by Americans. A little under half of the 691 billionaires on this year's list have American citizenship, and the two richest men in the world are - also as usual - Bill Gates of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett. Number three, however, is new at this level - India's Lakshmi Mittal jumped from being number 62 last year to the top rung. Also new among the top 10 was a single Scandinavian - Sweden's Ingvar Kamprad of Ikea. If one wonders how to become a "billie" it helps to be mature, to judge from the Forbes list. The average age of the world's dollar billionaires is 64, and 220 of them are over 70. Only 29 billion-aires are under 40. Also, it helps to be a man. This year's list comprises only 68 women. The list is a snapshot of the world's riches on a single day - 11 february - and may therefore al-ready have changed, for instance because of exchange rate fluctuations, buying and selling of as-sets and other transactions. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Lars Christiansen Royal Danish Consulate General |
The Danish Design Project at MoMA - phase 2At the opening of MoMA, the Danish manufacturers, who displayed their products in all public ar-eas of MoMA, met with representatives from the Consulate General, the Danish Trade Council and the Danish Arts Agency and agreed to have the Consulate General work out a proposal for a phase 2 on the Danish Design Project in order to secure continued branding of project, products and design companies.The Consulate has on this background come up with a proposal that would entail - not only a booklet be produced on the project + curated booth with the Danish Design Project products at MoMA be displayed at 4 major design shows in North America - but also at 5 other major foreign exhibitions to be held in the next 12-15 months. The proposal has already won overwhelming support amongst the Danish Design Project compa-nies and has now obtained financial support from the Danish Trade Council. The first show to be included in the project will be the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (May 14-17, 2005, www.icff.com) in New York. The exhibition will then travel to Los Angeles where it will be a part of the California Gift show (June 22-25, 2005, www.californiagiftshow.com), come back to New York for the International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Show 2005 (November 13-15, www.ihmrs.com), and finally participate in The Interior Design Show (February 23-26 2006, www.interiordesignshow.com) in Toronto, Canada. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Benthe Montalvo Royal Danish Consulate General |
US market for Danish Design ProductsOver the last months there has been a considerable increase in the interest from Danish design companies to enter the US market. No doubt the success story of Danish products at MoMA and the heavy press coverage in Denmark and the US on that accomplishment has created a basis for both more interest from Danish manufacturers and US importers. The Consulate General is sup-porting Danish companies which want to profit from this market and various marketing strategies are possible.One possibility is to use some of the well-established fairs for design products, and the Minneapolis Gift Show, which takes place twice a year, is in particular interesting for some Danish companies. The Minneapolis Gift Show is the show where the majority of Scandinavian gift stores do their shopping. This fair is therefore an obvious venue for many Danish companies to promote their products. In connection with the gift show the permanent showrooms, which represent many distributors of Scandinavian products, are open for buyers. The Danish Consulate General will make product presentations to selected distributors for several Danish companies both in March and August 2005. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Advertisement: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Peter Hessellund-Jensen President |
Danish-American Business Summit 2005On April 15th the Danish-American Business Summit 2005 will take place at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC. A number of Danish American Chambers of Commerce, including the DACCNY will participate in the meeting, which is being organized by the Danish Embassy, the American-Danish Business Council and the Trade Commission in Atlanta.The purposes of the meeting are to strengthen the Danish American business networks in the U.S. and to provide information on relevant US-Danish business issues, including specific challenges facing Danish subsidiaries in the U.S. There will be presentations on the status and trends in Danish American business relations and in the business environment by H. E. Ulrik Federspiel, Danish Ambassador to the United States, Alf Duch-Pedersen, CEO of Danisco and Chairman of Danske Bank, Tom Carbone, President of Vestas Americas. This will be followed by a panel discussion on Denmark as the Gateway to the Northern European Markets. The panelists will be Helle Meinertz, Director, North America Invest in Denmark, Kim Østrup, Vice President IBM, Denmark and Lou Gavigli, Corporate Vice President NYPRO. Following lunch there will be presentations on human resource and tax issues facing Danish subsidiaries in the U.S. Immigration specialists will speak on "Hot Topics in Immigration and Employment Law" and tax advisors on "Tax Considerations (Including Transfer Pricing) Unique for US Investment by Foreign Entities". A company presentation of Lundbeck, Inc. and its strategy and challenges it faces in the U.S. will be given by Lundbeck, Inc. CEO, Ole Vahlgren. Finally, there will be a panel discussion on Danish American business organizations in the U.S., moderated by Paul Coleman, Vice President of Biogen Idec, Chairman of AMCham Denmark and Member of the American-Danish Business Council. Panelists will be representatives from the DACCNY, and the Danish American Chambers of Commerce in Chicago, Los Angeles, Northern California, Georgia/Southeast and Danish Information System Professionals, Silicon Valley. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Nargis McGuinness Executive Director |
Hans Christian Andersen BicentennialThis year the 200th birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark's national storyteller and poet, is celebrated world-wide. The major press launch took place at the New York Public Library on Tuesday, February 1st with the participation of Their Royal Highnesses, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. At the press launch Hans Christian Andersen projects throughout the world were presented, and HRH Crown Prince Frederik revealed that Professor Harold Bloom will receive the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2005 in Odense, Denmark later this year.The Hans Christian Andersen celebration is organized by HCA2005 and sponsored primarily by the Bikuben Foundation. The purpose of HCA2005 is to ensure that as many people as possible - both in Denmark and abroad - attain a greater and more nuanced familiarity with the writer who, aside from being a storyteller for children of all ages, was also a critical journalist with great enthusiasm for science, an existential thinker, an observant travel book writer, a passionate novelist, a deft paper cut-out artist, a neurotic hypochondriac and a sex-fixated eccentric. Hans Christian Andersen was in short a man with demons, dreams, yearnings and visions. To promote the goals of Hans Christian Andersen 2005 and to foster international awareness, a committee of "Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Ambassadors" has been appointed. In the United States the Ambassadors include Boyd Gaines, Harvey Keitel, Peter Martins, Connie Nielsen, Susan Sarandon, McCoy Tyner, Harry Belafonte, and Suzanne Vega. In New York the following HCA events will take place in the spring: The American-Scandinavian Foundation celebrates the bicentennial of H.C. Andersen with a day- long celebration including storytelling, films, birthday songs and games "with H.C. Andersen him-self". All events are free and open to public. For further information, visit www.scandinaviahouse.org or call 212-879-9779. The American-Scandinavian Foundation presents a concert with Danish soprano Hanne Lade-foged-Dollase who will perform texts written by Andersen at Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue (btw. 37 and 38th Streets) on Sunday, April 17th at 4 pm. For further information, visit www.scandinaviahouse.org or call 212-879-9779. The Scandia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dorrit Matson presents "The Tinderbox" by Poul Schierbeck at Trinity Church, Wall Street & Broadway, New York City on Thursday, May 12th 2005 at 1 pm. For further information, call 212-602-0747 or visit www.trinitywallstreet.org. On June 4th the Hans Christian Andersen Storytelling Society will celebrate the opening of its 50th season of storytelling in Central Park. Following the storytelling will be a major celebratory lunch-eon in a tent featuring Danish delicacies. "Reincarnations" of Hans Christian Andersen, Jenny Lind and Ole Bull will also attend. Invitations will be sent to all members of the Chamber. For further information, please contact Jeanette Hemstad at 212-980-6240. Furthermore, The New York Public Library will host several Hans Christian Andersen storytelling events throughout the spring. Among them are storytelling at the Donnell Library Center, 20 W. 53rd Street on March 31st, April 2nd, April 28th and May 5th, at the Countee Cullen Branch, 104 W. 136th Street on April 15th and the Fort Washington Branch, 535 W 179th Street on April 19th. Furthermore, HCA storytelling will take place at Fordham Library Center, Francis Martin Branch, Van Cortlandt Branch and St. George Branch. For further information, please visit www.nypl.org. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Advertise in the DACC Newsletter! The following fees cover one edition of the Newsletter
Please contact the DACC Office at (212) 705-4945 or email daccny@daccny.com for further information. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the top |
Advertisement: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
