Denmark - Overview:
Denmark is a relatively small country with a population approaching 5.5 million people. The country is internationally orientated and several European languages are spoken throughout the population. Four fifths of the Danish workforce speak English, more than half speak German, while French and Swedish are both spoken by around one fifth. Denmark's modern market economy is characterised by high levels of foreign trade with food and energy being significant exports. The country benefits from extensive government welfare measures and in general living standards are high. The Danish currency is pegged to the Euro but in a referendum held in September 2000 the Danish people voted not to join the first wave of countries to adopt the Euro as their national currency. Denmark has, however, more than met the economic convergence criteria. Until December 2002, Denmark will hold the Presidency of the EU, during which time it is responsible for setting the agenda and being the driving force for EU cooperation.

Economy:
Denmark enjoys a stable economy and currency assisted by low inflation, low corporate taxation, low expatriates taxation, low employers' social security contribution and a high GDP per capita (US$3,675 IMD 2001). In addition, flexible holding taxation rules allow transfer of profits and losses from branch to parent company. According to the UN World Investment Report 2001 (WIR), Denmark is ranked 8th in the world for foreign investment attractiveness. The WIR is the leading publication on global trends and developments relating to foreign direct investment and transnational corporations. Current government policy is to focus on existing strengths in strategic areas such as IT, communications and sciences, which it believes to be the significant growth areas of the future.

Infrastructure:
A highly advanced transport and IT infrastructure adds to Denmark's attractiveness as a business location. Thanks to a proactive approach to infrastructure development, commercial enterprises based in Denmark have access to markets of 23million and 93million inhabitants in the Scandinavia and Baltic Sea Regions respectively. This includes air services to all the major Scandinavian and Northern European cities and a comprehensive rail network that connects all the major business centres of the country. Several domestic and international ferry routes serve the northern region and a major motorway connects north and south. By road and rail, companies can now reach Sweden in just 20 minutes thanks to the ?resund fixed link.

Workforce:
Denmark has a well educated "internationally minded" workforce with excellent language skills: English 78 per cent, German 43 per cent, French 14 per cent, characterised by a sense of team responsibility and flexibility. According to the Innovation Index published by the US Council of Competitiveness, Denmark will be the world's fourth most innovative nation by 2005.The typical Danish workplace and practices demonstrate a high degree of respect for family life.

Regulated by collective agreements, government intervention in the affairs of the labour market is rare. A high degree of flexibility in the labour system allows (in most cases) for working conditions to be negotiated at a company level meeting each company's specific needs. Whilst collective agreements stipulate a full working week of 37 hours, employers enjoy the flexibility to establish arrangements in order to optimise their human resources according to the actual demands of their business. Furthermore, unlike many other European countries there are no restrictions regarding night and weekend work, companies are allowed to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

New Technologies:
The Danish public sector is at the cutting edge of new developments in IT supporting a highly developed IT infrastructure. According to Tele Danmark, today around 95 per cent of the Danish population has the chance to opt for high-speed access to the Internet. ADSL equipment has been installed in a total of 1,807 central offices and transmission equipment cabins all over Denmark, and more than 165,000 Danes have already taken the opportunity to have fast Internet access lines installed in their homes. In addition, companies based in Denmark are among world's leaders in R&D for Mobile Telephony, Software and Biotech/Medical technologies.

Business Costs:
The World Competitiveness Scoreboard 2002 ranks Denmark 6th in the world behind the USA, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Singapore.

Whilst Danish wages may seem generally high compared to other European countries, the employer pays virtually no social security contributions, thereby making the actual work force cost very competitive in comparison with other European countries.