DBDH members meeting november 2014

Last week, DBDH held the last members meeting of the year in Odder, Jutland.

The theme this time was Poland. Poland is a focus market in DBDH. DBDH has a very active focus group, and through several export promotions and delegation visits, good relations have been created and a large network has been built. DBDH also has an agreement of cooperation with the Polish District Heating Chamber of Commerce (IGCP), which was also part of the members meeting.

The program including speeches by Mr. Jacek Szymczak from IGCP; Mr. Tomasz Pietka from ECP Group; Mr. Egil Rindorf from the Polish-Danish Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Krzysztof Jaworski from Ramboll Polska; Mr. Leif Christiansen from Impactive; and Mr. Jens Thomsen from the Danish Embassy in Warsaw.

Jacek Szymczak gave some general information about district heating in Poland. The main activities of the Chamber of Commerce Polish District Heating cover: Integration of the DH industry; Representation of the interests of DH companies in the Government and Parliament; Support – legal and economic; and Training, meetings, conferences, publications. Szymczak talked also about the development of district cooling.

Tomasz Pietka from ECO Group told about the company. Since the municipal heating company MPEC was founded in Opole back in 1969, the company has seen a great development. Most recently, in 2013, a purchase took place of 96% of shares in the district heating system in the Podkarpackie regio; there was a further development of providing households with hot water in Opole, Jelenia Gora and Tarnobrzeg; and the company joined the so-called KAWKA programme, a project worth PLN 8 million, to replace local gas boilers with district heating.

Egil Rindorf said, in his presentation, that Poland is a good business opportunity as it has a large population; has customers with spending powers; is qualified and efficient, geographically ideal as it is close by; is a driver in the European integration – acutally, according to Rindorf the country is the biggest opportunity for Danish businesses in 50 years.

Mr. Krzysztof Jaworski from Ramboll Polska gave a presentation named “possibilities of DH Sector Investments in Poland – what, why, how and where”. According to Jaworski, the most likely types of projects are: new CHPs, HOBs, refurbishments of Plants and DH networks. He also advised the Danish DH sector how to do business with following types of clients: Traditional Scandinavian investment model; Traditional Polish investment model; Supplies of goods and services to the Investors – Public Procurement Law; Cooperation with EPC contractors (specific companies to follow in Poland).

Leif Christiansen talked about “Concrete cultural differences between Denmark and Poland and how to turn the differences into a business success”. In order to obtain such a success, one must know a.o. behaviour, values and beliefs on the two different sides, and also factors such as power distance, individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance.

Jens Thomsen from the Danish embassy in Poland also touched upon the cultural differences between the two Danish nations, but also the many similarities that exist between the Danes and the Poles. In his view too, Poland is an apt country in which to do business.

The members meeting also saw the introduction by three new member companies: Aaen Consulting Engineers, Gottlieb Paludan and Teldust.

Finally, Managing Director of DBDH, Lars Hummelmose gave an update of the activities of DBDH. Jørn Urup Nielsen from Desmi gave an insight in DBDH’s focus group Poland, and Ricky Bjørkvik, DBDH, talked about the activities of another focus group, namely Turnkey Export.

As always, the meeting ended with a dinner in the evening, which this time took off with a nice wine tasting in the wine cellar of the hotel. After this, networking and the consumption of nice dinner could begin.

Presentations
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=514 linktext=’Egil Rindorf – Polish Danish Chamber Of Commerce’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=505 linktext=’DBDH Activities’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=507 linktext=’Jacek Szymczak – IGCP’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=508 linktext=’Jens Thomsen – Warsaw Embassy’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=509 linktext=’John Strandfelt – Gottlieb Paludan’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=510 linktext=’Kim Helge – Teldust Presentation’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=511 linktext=’Krzysztof Jaworski – Rambøll’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=515 linktext=’Leif Christiansen – Impactive’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=512 linktext=’Rasmus Aaen – Aaen Presentation’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=512 linktext=’Rasmus Aaen – Aaen Presentation’ /]
[wpfilebase tag=fileurl id=520 linktext=’Jørn Urup Nielsen – DESMI – Focus Group Poland’ /]