Everything considered, IFU is satisfied with the evaluation of the Fund published today. NCG – Nordic Consulting Group has made the evaluation at the request of Danida and with the consent of IFU’s board. The evaluation report can be downloaded from IFU’s homepage or ordered from Danida.
“All in all we are pleased with the report and we generally agree with the conclusions and recommendations of the report. However, one could have hoped for a more forward-looking perspective. We have already acted upon many of the recommendations and the rest will be seriously assessed by IFU’s board in the near future”, says IFU’s managing director, Sven Riskær.
As it appears from the evaluation, IFU has made a great difference in the developing countries since the fund was established in 1967. With over 500 projects in collaboration with many Danish companies, the fund has participated in the establishment of 80,000 new jobs in 72 developing countries.
The many years of work and IFU’s offices and advisers all over the world – e.g. in West Africa, China, India and Brazil – have created a unique expertise from which Danish companies can draw great advantage, it appears from the evaluation. At the same time, NCG finds that IFU should invest more in the poorer developing countries and also aim at working more with smaller Danish companies. Sven Riskær comments:
“We have always focused on encouraging investments in the poorest countries and regions and we make an effort to have qualified advisers here also. But Danish companies who are the ones to decide where investments should and can take place cannot disregard economic realities, and often the largest risks are in the poorest countries”.
“It is understandable why small companies have been reluctant to launch into a turbulent world but with WTO now established in many countries, conditions have improved. Therefore, we must work on spreading knowledge of IFU among small companies – a task we have already initiated”.
Conference
On 10 September at 2 – 5 p.m. IFU will host an open conference on the evaluation.
Speakers will be: chairman of IFU’s board, Johannes Poulsen, CEO; Minister for Integration and for Development Cooperation, Bertel Haarder; Hans Skov Christensen, CEO, Dansk Industri (the Confederation of Danish Industries); Nils S. Andersen, CEO, Carlsberg; J.J. Kollerup, CEO, Fan Milk International and Per K. Hansen, director, NCG.
Location: Eigtveds Pakhus, Asiatisk Plads, Copenhagen
Registration is free and must take place no later than 7 September to IFU
By phone: +45 33 63 75 00 or mail to ifu@ifu.dk
For further information and comments, please contact IFU’s managing director Sven Riskær
Phone: +45 33 63 75 00
IFU (The Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries) is a self-governing fund. The purpose of IFU is to promote economic activity in developing countries, by promoting investments in these countries in collaboration with Danish trade and Industry. IFU participates as adviser and shareholder, lender or guarantor when a Danish company wishes to start-up production in a developing country. With the 2004 Finance Act, the Danish government decided to reduce IFU’s capital base with DKK 750 m