By Ben Garcia
KUWAIT: Saudi-based Danish Ambassador to Kuwait Ole E Moesby arrived in Kuwait yesterday, where he is set to meet heads of Kuwait's ministry of foreign affairs, ministry of defense and chamber of commerce, along with members of the business community. He also plans to meet with the Danish military personnel stationed in Kuwait. Moesby is Denmark's ambassador to Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Moesby will try to convince Kuwait to invest in Denmark's renewable energy and life science technologies. "I will tell them to invest in long-term sustainable and renewable energies. We are number one in renewable energy. While countries around the world are still deciding their 2030-2035 goals, Denmark has already done the planning.
We are 20 to 30 years in advance. We are developing wind farms, which I believe Kuwait can also do because wind and sunshine are here too. Hydrogen technology could be developed in Kuwait too. If Kuwait wants to become a strong player in the energy field in the future, it should not only concentrate on petroleum and oil, but also develop its renewable energy technology, because that's the future of the world right now," he told Kuwait Times.
According to Moesby, Denmark has invested a lot in health. "We are very much into life sciences - it's in the area of medicine and pharmaceuticals. Our agribusiness companies are now mostly into organic products. We have several high-quality dairy products. We have technology for farming, and encourage Kuwaitis to take advantage of this technology. We can do the design and planning," he added.
Moesby took pride in the AAA rating granted to Denmark by US credit rating agency Standard & Poor's. "We are the best country in Europe for doing business. We have a high standard in terms of business. Our interest rate is basically negative, which means I have to pay the bank to take care of my money. In other countries, they are giving interest on the money in the bank. But we are paying them to keep our money. The reason for this is because we have a conducive, reasonable and stable business environment. If you are looking for investment, you go to Denmark," he said.
Excellent partner
With regards to Denmark-Kuwait bilateral relations, Moesby described Kuwait as an excellent and traditional partner of many years. "We have several products here. You can notice several of our designs and products in hotels, restaurants and many offices. Danes designed the National Assembly, its interior and several more buildings in Kuwait. Also, visit supermarkets and you will find several products from Denmark, from appliances to organic produce and pharmaceuticals. We may not be the biggest importer or exporter, but we have a steady stream of trade with Kuwait," he said.
The Danish population in Kuwait is around 200, mostly in high-level positions. "There are some Danes married to Kuwaitis, and Danes working in several high-level positions. There are people in the oil, hospitality, pharmaceutical and bakery sectors. Did you know that the first excavation on Failaka Island in Kuwait was headed by a Dane in the 1950s? Many artifacts were uncovered there, and we traced the origins of the first settlement," the ambassador said.
Moesby also spoke about Denmark's response and its contribution to the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic. "We managed the COVID-19 pandemic properly and excellently in March 2020. We didn't know the pandemic will last this long. We are thankful that the number of cases and deaths are now diminishing all over the world. Denmark is now in the final phase before going back to normality by July.
At the moment we are in the last part of this battle, with the number of cases dropping to only 200 per day in a population of 5 million people. We have controlled transmission, while 70 percent of our people have already been vaccinated. The only group remaining are 30-35 years old. We also have no issue with people who don't want to be vaccinated," he said.
3 million vaccines
Denmark has also donated 3 million vaccines to WHO's Covax program, intended for distribution to several developing countries around the world. "Separately, we also delivered 350,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Kenya. We sent respirators to Ukraine and Nepal and oxygen to India. We are very committed to helping other countries that need us," Moesby said.
"The most important thing is that we managed to register our people to trace and monitor COVID-19 cases quickly. It helped us a lot in saving elderly people and the vulnerable. We managed to restrict areas of concerns - we isolated and focused our attention on them. There were times too when we had no more beds for sick people," he recalled.
Denmark is a small country in Europe, but according to Moesby, most of the time, like Kuwait, it plays an important mediatory role in several complex issues. With regards to Denmark's position on the Middle East conflict, it advocates a two-state solution. "It's been a long and enduring conflict; like everyone else, we would like to see this end soon. But we want to keep the status quo and convince both sides to return to the negotiating table. Until then, we have to respect the Oslo agreement," he said.