Productive Danish Environment & Food Minister Malaysia visit

Denmark’s Minister of Environment & Food, Esben Lunde Larsen, has visited Malaysia, wrapping up by attending the celebration of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II’s 76th year birthday, which had Deputy Minister of Trade & Industry, Datuk Ahmad Maslan, as the Malaysian Guest of Honour.

The guests at the Danish National Day Reception also had the pleasure of enjoying delicacies prepared by the Danish National Culinary Team – Kokkelandsholdet. This chefs team, represented by chefs Sten Slot Knudsen and Mads Søndergaard on 15 April also entertained ‪Malaysian‬ food distributers and bloggers with a show-cooking event in the Danish residence, with the assistance of Malaysian top-chef Azim Amran from Berjaya University College of Hospitality School of Culinary Arts.

The Danish minister witnessed the show-cooking and shared his views on “Food for Life – Danish Green and Natural”. He didn’t have to be asked twice before diving into the action, cooking alongside the top chefs.

Most of the ingredients were kindly sponsored and provided by the Danish companies Arla Foods and Uhrenholt (dairy), Bioceval and Amanda (fish), Fynbo Foods (candy and confiture), Danish Speciality Foods (cookies) and AAK (ingredients for chocolate and confectionery), while Orana supplied refreshing cold drinks.

During his visit, minister Esben Lunde Larsen held official talks and explored market opportunities within food, agriculture, fisheries as well as clean-tech. He had bilateral meetings with Malaysian ministers, opened two bilateral forums and witnessed the signing of two commercial agreements between ‪Danish‬ and ‪‎Malaysian‬ companies.

On the second day of his visit he opened a Forum on Aquaculture & Water Technologies in Putrajaya. Presentations were made by ‪Danish‬ and ‪Malaysian‬ partners, including WorldFish, Department of Fisheries and Confederation of Danish Industry.

From fisheries, the visit changed focus to solid waste with a bilateral meeting with the Deputy Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Halima, followed by the witnessing of a business MoU signing ceremony between Danish Dong Energy and Malaysian Cenviro.

In the afternoon, Minister Esben Lunde Larsen had the pleasure of meeting with his agricultural counterpart the Malaysian Minister of Agriculture & Agro-based Industries, Shabery Cheek, to exchange views on current developments in Malaysia within livestock, dairy and aquaculture, and opportunities for deepening of relations between Denmark and Malaysia.

During the visit the minister also had time to experience rural Malaysia, visiting a chicken farm in Melaka and getting first-hand impressions of the palm oil production chain.

It was thus, in conclusion a comprehensive and productive two-day visit, reports Embassy of Denmark in Kuala Lumpur.