Bilans d’évènement
Defence & European Sovereignty: French-Danish Opportunities, a full house at BLOX
On Thursday 1 October, the Danish-French Chamber of Commerce welcomed around 70 participants, most of them from the defence sector, to BLOX in Copenhagen for our conference "Defence & European Sovereignty: French-Danish Opportunities".
Denmark is significantly expanding its defence investment, and that budget is now turning into real contracts, subcontracting and co-development. The evening set out to answer a simple question for companies on both sides: how do you get into the Danish defence market, and how can French and Danish players build this supply chain together?
An opening by H.E. David Bertolotti
We were honoured that H.E. David Bertolotti, Ambassador of France to Denmark, joined us and opened the conference with an excellent introduction to the topic. Our warm thanks to him for his presence and support.
First-hand perspectives from the industry
Moderated by Joachim Finkielman, Director of DI Danish Defence and Security Industries, the panel brought together three speakers with direct experience of the market:
- Steen Hommel, Executive Vice President for Government and Partnerships at Terma, Denmark's largest defence and space group, and former State Secretary for Trade and Investment and Danish Ambassador to Poland.
- Thomas Ostermann, Director of Partnerships and Industrial Cooperation at Thales Denmark, who shared how Thales approaches industrial cooperation, partnerships and localisation in Denmark. His key message: the customer always comes first, and in defence that means connecting the dots to meet Denmark's priorities, requirements and operational needs.
- Thierry Legendre, Partner and Managing Director of AC Defence, a Copenhagen-based specialist in access to the Danish defence market, formerly with the Danish Ministry of Defence and the private office of the NATO Secretary General.
Together, they offered concrete insights, from entering the market to turning Franco-Danish partnerships into jobs and capability anchored in Denmark.
Launch of the Chamber's Defence Committee
The conference also marked the official launch of the Chamber's new Defence Committee, a platform for French and Danish companies to share insights, build partnerships and strengthen cooperation in the defence sector. If you are interested in joining this new committee, please get in touch with us via our contact form. The committee will be chaired by Kim Meurs-Gerken, Vice-President of the Chamber.
Networking and thanks
The conference closed with a networking cocktail, giving participants the chance to continue the discussions. We warmly thank 360 Law Firm, partner of the event, and Les Grands Chais de France for generously offering the wines served during the cocktail.
Thank you to our speakers, our moderator, and to all participants for making this evening a success. We look forward to continuing the conversation on French-Danish defence cooperation.
Missed the evening? Click on the image below to see all the photos from the conference.
