Danish environment and food minister’s Singapore visit

Danish Minister of Food and the Environment, Esben Lunde Larsen visited Singapore to attend the Singapore International Water Week, along with Danish and international companies and global decisions makers. The minister made time for a number of visits and attended many events where he kicked off his ‪trip by visiting three companies – Norbreeze who brought the Danish juice darling, Joe & the Juice, to Singapore; Grundfos, world-famous pump-manufacturer; and Singapore’s own Sky Greens (the world’s first vertical farm using minimal space, water and energy resources in their production of vegetables).

In meeting Danish companies Esben Lunde Larsen discussed the obstacles and cooperation opportunities they are experiencing when exporting water technology in Southeast Asia.

The Minister held a speech at the Danish Seamen’s Church on Sunday 10 July, and attending the service and a followed by lunch.

Directly after that Mr Larsen attended the Water Leaders Summit as part of Singapore International Water Week (the global platform to share and co-create innovative water solutions), where he took part in a panel discussion: ‘From End-User Engagement Point of View: Aligning and Working with Public and Industrial Users’.

The export of Danish water technology has increased circa 25 percent in less than 10 years, and many Danish companies are leading the way.

In the future, shortage of water will be a worldwide challenge, since climate changes and an increasing population will pressure the water resources. The focus at the summit was the increasing demand of water technology, which saves water and reduces the environmental impact.

This summit presented an exclusive high-level gathering of global water industry leaders for exchanges with government regulators and policy think-tanks to discuss solutions to pressing water issues. In 2016, the three-day Summit put the focus squarely on water in the urban context, along the theme “Water and Cities: Pathways to Sustainability and Resilience”.

The Danish minister also met, among other companies, with the Danish leading engineering, design and consultancy company Ramboll at the Danish Pavillion, with Mr Morten Kabell, Mayor of Technical and Environmental Affairs of Copenhagen, in attendance.

At the Water Week ‘Waterville’ was also displayed – a 20,000 brick LEGO town that had beeb relocated to Singapore. The 3D LEGO model showed how ‪‎Danish‬ companies can contribute to solving global water challenges through state-of-the-art technologies.