CAIRO: Denmark has allocated 100 million krona ($15.4 million) in aid to Egypt to assist “in its transition towards democratic and economic development” after the January 25 Revolution. Meanwhile, Danish shipping company Maersk plans to expand and invest $25 million in Egypt's market. “We believe in free enterprise, this amount is just for aid in this period,” Christian Hoppe, Denmark's ambassador to Egypt, said Thursday at a conference at the Egyptian Stock Exchange. “We do, however, encourage more Danish companies to come to Egypt and invest.” Accompanying Hoppe were Danish companies Maersk, Leo Egypt, and Lundbeck Egypt, all corporations that have had a strong presence in the country's market over the past years. “Just yesterday, at our first board meeting for this year, we've decided to invest another $25 million,” Klaus Holm Laursen, Maersk managing director in Egypt, told Daily News Egypt. “Our appearance here today shall be seen as a symbolic show of solidarity with Egypt in this period,” Hoppe said. “It also shows the long-standing economic relations that we've had and that we want to continue.” As the Egyptian government has opened bids for aid and investment to the international community, many nations have been very responsive. According to Magda Kandil, executive director at the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, while most pledges have been in direct investments, very little have come in the form of aid. Nonetheless, Kandil pointed out that this small, yet “appreciated” support package carries subtle conditionality. “There are some hidden conditions when such terms are used for labeling this kind of aid,” said Kandil. “This is not loose money that the [Egyptian government] can take and spend unconditionally on public matters, there are certain things that it can be targeted for, specific development projects since it's from the Danish government rather than private entities,” she added. Laursen said his company lost millions of dollars during the 18-day uprising, which forced Hosni Mubarak out of power. “With security missing from society, this can be expected after such circumstances hit a country,” he said. “Our employees could not come to work because of the security issue.” According to Laursen, 99 percent of Maersk employees are Egyptian. Now, however, the company is not only bouncing back to business, their previous investments are still ongoing. “We've seen business start to pick up in May and it could improve further if we had more capabilities,” he said. Maersk had launched a $5 million project to build more yachts or cranes in their Port Said location at the Suez Canal before the revolution. Today, the project continues unaffected by recent events, Laursen added. Maersk will not be alone in investing more in the Egyptian economy over the next few years. “Like all companies, Danish companies like to keep some of their investment plans secret at first, but I'm sure that there will be more investments over the next two or three years,” said Hoppe. He added that after the revolution, the two countries will increase the volume of bilateral trade. According to the ambassador, Denmark's exports to Egypt amount to LE 1 billion per year. In 2010, Egypt's exports to Denmark amounted to LE 200-300 million.
