Ambassador
Annual Meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce
SAS Radisson, Islands Brygge
April 6, 2006
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to be here with you today at the gracious invitation of your chairman Paul Coleman. With 150,000 employees in Denmark, you play a key role in sustaining the vitality of this country's strong economy.
In addressing the members of the American Chamber of Commerce, I know I am speaking to some of the Embassy's best friends in Denmark. Throughout the year, the AmCham repeatedly shows its interest in what we do at the Embassy and helps us implement many useful programs.
I have come to rely on your generosity for such events, most importantly, our 4 th of July celebration. This year's unique, and different event, will tie in with the themes I will talk about today and with the urgency of our mission.
It is a great honor to have been chosen by President Bush to serve in Denmark as his Ambassador. The diplomatic world is still somewhat new to me. But I am a fast learner and bring to this job the energy and enthusiasm of a businessman.
Best/Worst things:
Best: The ability to always get a last minute table at restaurants
Worst: Being expected to eat at all the nice expensive restaurants
Best: Friends coming to visit…thirteen next week!
Worst: Friends expecting you to pay at all the nice expensive restaurants.
As Ambassador, my day is spent dealing with issues such as Iraq and the war on terror but in truth, what effects you and your 150,000 employees is my other principal mandate…to support U.S. business and promote trade and investment between our two countries. And rightly so: trade and investment relationships are the bedrock of excellent bilateral relations.
This afternoon, I want to concentrate on the business side of the relationship between Denmark and the U.S. and in doing so, I will not only focus on the positive sides of the relationship between American and its largest trading partner, the EU. I will also touch upon some of the worries that my government has about Europe as a possibly declining economic power. And I will say just a few words about the American experience of integrating ethnic minorities.
So you could say, the themes of my presentation today are: globalization, innovation, and integration.
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Globalization first.
Globalization can come in many forms; globalization of ideas, education and business. I just left lunch with Larry Kellner, Chariman and CEO of Continental Airlines. Continental and Delta have announced new direct flights to Copenhagen from the United States. I can't think of a better example of globalization than rapid travel.
I want to share with you a moving example of globalization from an essay I recently read written by a woman named Yonita Grigorova, a native of Bulgaria. In her essay she talks about her love of the piano and how her mother and father, while living under a communist government, had to go through a six to twelve month, complicated process of obtaining a piano, from a lump-sum of pianos, ordered by the Bulgarian government from the former Soviet Union. Her family did not have the luxury of going to a piano store and picking out the piano they liked the best; the one the played the best; the one she was most comfortable with. To Yonita and her family, there were no other pianos. Yonita goes on to explain how in 1989 when Bulgaria got its first taste of freedom, the concept of globalization began to overtake the country; globalization of ideas about democracy, human rights and civil society. Globalization is now connecting that country to other parts of the world in tremendous ways and has lead to a new era for Bulgarians. And today, because of economic and democratic reforms, globalization has made it possible for Yonita to purchase any type of piano she prefers, produced anywhere in the world.
The U.S. and European economies are even more interconnected. Direct investment across the Atlantic has tripled in the last ten years. Our trade and investment relationship with Europe is now 1.3 trillion dollars per year. This is an economic relationship that is constantly evolving and tremendously exciting.
Denmark remains at the forefront of trans-Atlantic commerce. Frankly, in the EU, Denmark's influence is disproportionate to its size, because of the negotiation and consensus-building skills which the Danes have developed so well. At a time where globalization offers tremendous opportunities and tremendous risks, such skills are valuable indeed. In fact, one of President Bush's instructions to me to "showcase Denmark's leadership in the world, in hopes that others will follow their lead." For a small country, Denmark is doing remarkable things in the War against Terror, promoting freedom, and providing humanitarian and development aid to the world. The President's notion was that if a country the size of Denmark could be so heavily engaged, then others in the world, with even greater resources, should be able and willing to do even more.
Denmark and U.S. are both wealthy countries with a rich democratic tradition with high standards of government accountability and expectations of transparency. We are technological societies engaged in knowledge-based businesses with global reach. We both rely on free trade to make our economies prosper and shape the world of the 21 st century.
America likes doing business with its friends, and our two countries must continue to cultivate trans-Atlantic economic and trade relations, precisely because that trans-Atlantic relationship provides so much of the driving force for global economic growth, enhanced welfare, and increased prosperity.
Next comes innovation . There are great rewards to be reaped from strategic alliances and partnerships between Danish and American companies. For the American businessman, access to a marketplace like Denmark, that is notably free of impediments to business and innovation-friendly, is a great opportunity.
For Danish industry, the possibility of reaching more than 270 million consumers in a single American market is extremely attractive. Likewise, the technology, research, and development found in the U.S. offer tremendous opportunities for Danish companies interested in partnering with American firms.
As President Bush has noted, “One of the great engines of our growing economy is our nation’s capacity to innovate. Through America’s investments in science and technology, we have revolutionized our economy and changed the world for the better."
His words were echoed by William W. Lewis, the founding director of McKinsey Global Institute, who recently wrote: "The United States is the productivity leader in virtually every industry. And productivity rates are surging faster now than they ever did in the 1990's."
Why is this? Well, one good explanation is that America's business sector is closer to the free market vision of Adam Smith than those of any other nation. We want to be the best. We want to win. We don't mind competing. We don't mind taking risks and we're not afraid of loosing.
The Danish approach is different – softer, less aggressive, more careful – and yet, the Danes have created a healthy business environment, that is the envy of many countries around the world, including neighboring European countries like France and Italy.
Even so, one of the great missions of American businesses in this country – apart from making money, of course – is to gently nudge the Danish business world and draw its attention to the need for a dynamic approach to ensure that Denmark's investment climate remains among the most open in the world. That's why I applaud AmCham's aggressive new foreign investor agenda. We support efforts in Denmark and the United States to make our economic relationship even stronger. In Denmark, such measures may include changes in education, regulation, healthcare and other areas to encourage more foreign investment in Denmark and continued success in the global economy.
Let me close with a few words on integration. As we all know, Europe faces a big problem because of its declining and aging populations. In 25 years, the number of working-age Europeans will drop by 7 percent, while those older than 65 will increase by 50 percent. In 2013, the average American age will be 38 and the average European age will be 52. The United States fertility rates (immigrant and native born) have risen since the 80s, whereas Europe is facing a demographic crisis unheard of since almost the Middle Ages. What does this tell up about faith in the future? About optimism and hope among Americans and Europeans?
The EU's per capita GDP is 25 percent lower than that of the U.S., and that gap has been widening for the past 15 years. If the present trend continues, the OECD warns, in 20 years the average American will be twice as rich as the average Frenchman or German.
Economists and the European Commission keep proposing that Europe take in more immigrants to expand its labor force and reverse ever-more alarming economic trends. The reality, however, is that the individual European nations will not take in more immigrants, an attitude that is reinforced by the difficulties that Europe has with the immigrant populations that are already here – and sometimes have been for decades.
President Bush has spoken with great sincerity of his hopes that Europe will be an even stronger partner of the U.S. But even so, there is no denying that the link between economics and demographics in Europe is a cause for worry.
The trans-Atlantic "driving force" that I spoke of a few minutes ago may soon be a thing of the past, if things don't change. And one way of doing so is for Europe to realize the great potential of immigrants.
America is a "nation of immigrants." The saying has become a cliché but it is none the less true. We are the descendants of those who left. Europeans are descendants of those who stayed behind. Tom Friedman of the International Herald Tribune in a recent article quoted Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Paul, " The very act of leaving behind your own society is an intense motivation. Whether you are a doctor or a gardner, you are intensely motivated to succeed." The citizens of the United States are heirs of ancestors who embarked on a great experiment; ancestors who founded a nation based on an idea. And central to that idea is cultural, social and religious diversity, and we have valuable lessons to offer to our friends.
Certainly, there are many differences between the contemporary European situation and the U.S. experience, but one core observation that I believe everybody will recognize the truth of, is the crucial link between getting a job and successfully integrating into the new host society.
The cartoon controversy and recent riots in Paris and elsewhere has powerfully highlighted the difficulties Europe is having with its immigrants.
With all due respect then, I think Denmark and most other Western European countries have something to learn from the U.S. experience. And America wants to help in a respectful and appropriate way. It's in our economic interest; and our national security interests.
That's why I am excited about the pilot internship program with members of the American Chamber of Commerce that the AmCham, the Embassy and the Fulbright Commission are developing for young people from ethnically diverse neighborhoods.
The program is only in its startup phase. We are aiming to begin modestly, with approximately 10-15 interns recruited from two business schools in greater Copenhagen: the Ishøj-Tastrup Handelsskole and the Niels Brock Handelsskole. But the potential for growth and for effective community service is great.
I am confident that this constructive approach sends a clear and positive signal to the Danish authorities, the Danish business world and the ethnic communities themselves that the present difficulties need not prevail and lasting solutions to otherwise daunting social and economic problems can be found. There is reason for hope. On a recent vist to Ishøj, I saw the courage of five young Muslim women who are taking after school classes in Danish; the courage of a manufacturer who has a labor force made up primarily of Muslims from Turkey and Pakistan; the courage of Imam Süleyman Özmen who I met with, after taking off my shoes to visit his mosque – the largest in Denmark.
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In concluding, let me tell you about one thing that has become very clear to me during my first year as U.S. Ambassador to Denmark.
The once clear line between domestic and foreign policy is blurring – especially in the post 9/11 world.
The common good at home cannot be separated from our efforts to advance the common good around the world. They must be one and the same if we are to be truly secure in the world of the 21 st century.
Globalization.
Innovation.
Integration.
Thank you for representing American well in these challenges and thank you for your partnership with our mission.
Thank you for the invitation.