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Ambassador

Remarks by Ambassador James P. Cain

May 15, 2007  

One of my predecessors once said: "If this new experiment in popular sovereignty, freedom of conscience, and freedom of expression is to thrive, or even to survive, then this young country America must choose its friends carefully.”   Those words were penned in 1782, and as they indicate since our founding, America has cherished doing business with friends.   To my American colleagues who have traveled across the ocean, for many of you this is your first visit to this special land-

  • the land where Vikings came from,

  • where Hans Christian Andersen conjured up the wonderful tales of ugly ducklings, little mermaids, and naked emperors that have thrilled young people for generations,
  • where toilets have two speeds,
  • where the flag and the monarchy are oldest in the world,
  • where, according to a recent Gallup poll, the people are the happiest on earth,
  • and where America enjoys one of its staunchest alliances, and where we find one of our closest friends.

  It is a land of great innovation. That became apparent to me soon after I arrived here in the fall of 2005 and discovered companies like-

  • Hydrema where I sat in the driver’s seat of their remarkable mine-clearing vehicle, that is protecting our soldiers in Afghanistan, and saw first hand the revolutionary advance in flood control capabilities with their flood control vehicle –

  • and companies like Terma, whose cutting-edge advances in 3-Dimentional sound mesmerized me when I donned the pilot’s helmet in the Joint Strike Fighter simulator.
  • Companies like GPV, whose innovations in machine precision have made it the sole source for wings and fins for the Tomahawk Cruise Missile.
  • Companies like XSIS (a portfolio company of Inventure Holdings A/S), whose search engine software was developed initially by a grant from the Danish PET, and is now being used in the U.S. for sophisticated data mining.
  • Companies like Rosving A/S, another Inventure Holdings company, whose independent software verification program is now being reviewed by NASA, at the Ames Research Center for use in the space station, and
  • Companies like GumLink, one of the great innovation success stories in Denmark, developing fortified chewing gum for the U.S. Army – to provide hygiene, and when necessary an energy boost, for every soldier, sailor, airman and marine that eats a combat ration.

  These companies are all here today. There are many such stories of innovation and ingenuity among companies in the Nordic region; yet sometimes you struggle to gain attention from the American market, and while some would say it is not the job of the American Ambassador to promote Danish and Nordic businesses, it is my job to promote America’s strategic interests, and there is no interest more strategic, and no pursuit more important than the safety and security of our people.     Thus was born, in conversation one fall afternoon with the Danish Minister of Defense, the idea of bringing the best of Danish and Nordic innovation in the defense and security sectors, together with their target customers in American—the U.S. Government, contractors from the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, the major defense contracting companies, and the investors who understand the strength and potential of this important industry. There's no leader in Northern Europe today who is more committed to the struggle against terrorism, more focused on deployed capabilities of forces, or more devoted to the growth of domestic companies in these critical industries, than Minister Søren Gade. Thank you Minister Gade, for your vision and your partnership in making this Showcase a success.   And thanks also Mr. Minister to your colleagues who, professional commitment has been so critical to this event coming together.

  • Lars Findsen, the Danish Perm. Sec. of State for Defense

  • Vice Admiral Tim Jørgensen, Deputy Chief of Defense
  • Rear Admiral Finn Hansen, Commander DALO
  • Neils Erik Jensen, International Director National Agency for Enterprise and Construction, Denmark
  • And thanks to our Nordic partners,
  • Jari Takanen, Director of Materials, Ministry of Defense, Finland
  • Ms. Linda Adamcik, Dep. Director National Armaments, Norway

  Thank you all for being here, and working with our own, Lt. Col. Eric Fleming, U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation, on this first-of-a-kind initiative.   Because of all of your hard work, this Showcase has brought together over 200 representatives from American, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish governments, militaries, defense and security contractors, as well as academics and investors from each country—you might say we have brought together the “sellers with the buyers”.   We come together with one goal – to explore mutual business and investment opportunities to keep our nations, our countries and our allies safe and secure—and our shareholders happy.   More than 70 companies are here to showcase their products, processes, patented technologies, and new innovations to the American consuming market. I encourage you to listen to these companies, visit their booths outside in the trade show area, and take advantage of the detailed presentations tomorrow. Of course, this Showcase is only the beginning of the process.  

  • we have more work to do eliminating impediments to pursuing defense contracting business in the U.S.-

  • we need to improve the process for technology transfer between governments-
  • we need to enhance public and private partnerships in the production of defense and dual use items-

But it all starts with relationships – and this Showcase, first and foremost, gives us all the chance to build those relationships. And tonight, I will look forward to seeing each of you at the Residence where you will hear from the man who spear headed the U.S. State Department's counterterrorism efforts from 2002 to 2005, and where you will see more of the amazing products being produced by these innovative companies—including, (I am told), the legendary Hydrema mine clearing vehicle (my gardner hopes that the company will forget and leave it behind so that he can till the garden).   Thanks to our partners at the Danish American Business Forum, the American Chamber of Commerce and Dansk Industries for supporting this project. These organizations can help you as you grow your business between the U.S. and Denmark. We support them and partner with them, and we urge you to do so as well.   Thanks to our speakers,

  • Contracting Executive for the U.S. Space and Missile Defense Command, Mark Lumer

  • Program Manager, U.S. Department of Homeland Security for Science and Technology, Jalal Mapar,
  • Chairman, American Defense Industries, Van Hipp,
  • Lt. Col. Per Rasmussen, Deputy Danish Defense Attaché, Washington, DC

And thanks to our sponsors who have made the financial commitments to ensure the success of the event. Lockheed Martin, Terma, General Dynamics, MOAG, and the Hilton Hotel In the next 12 months, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security will spend almost 80 billion dollars on research and development alone. This creates needs, and it creates opportunities. As has been the case since our founding, America likes doing business with friends.   We are pleased to call each of you friends. We are pleased that you are here with us this morning. And I am pleased to declare this Showcase officially opened.