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Your Royal Highness Prince Joachim
Distinguished guests
Dear international talents
Thank you for the opportunity to open the International Talent Conference 2017.
Thanks to A.P. Møller Mærsk for being such a brilliant host today.
And thanks to Copenhagen Capacity for arranging this important event.
I guess most of you know the famous Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen. He was the one playing Bond-Crook in Casino Royal.
Mads Mikkelsen plays the starring role in a new Carlsberg-commercial. Biking around the country, Mikkelsen wonders why Denmark is known as one of the happiest countries in the world.
Could it be that we find joy in nature? Is it that we keep work and life in perfect balance? Or is it that we make time for ‘hygge’?
Mads Mikkelsen ends up concluding – not surprisingly – that good beer plays a significant role for the happiness of the Danes.
I cannot help agreeing with him on that. Honestly, I like many kinds of Danish beer.
But we need more than beer to build a happy future for Denmark.
When I speak to business leaders, I hear the same thing again and again – we need talented young people.
People who can help us transform new technologies into meaningful innovation.
People who can help our businesses adapt to an increasingly global world.
People who have the ability to respond to change.
People like you.
Digitalisation and globalisation
As you know production methods are undergoing fundamental changes these years.
Automatisation, digitalisation and globalisation are sweeping across countries and industries.
That puts pressure on our businesses to change. A change that requires the right workforce with the right skills.
That is why it is important to the government to attract the very best talent from all over the world.
What Denmark has to offer
So what are our assets - as a small Scandinavian country - in the global race for talent?
A survey from 2015 shows that a good work-life balance is one of the main reasons for international students to choose Denmark as their working spot.
Actually, we are the country in the world with the healthiest work-life balance, according to a current OECD-ranking.
Professional development and professional challenges are other reasons for international students to choose Denmark.
In most work-places we have a flat organisational structure and much emphasis on freedom under responsibility.
That makes our labour market an obvious playground for young talents with the courage to experiment with future technologies and working methods.
These reasons, together with the fact that Denmark is based on knowledge and driven by innovation, give us a strong starting point on the brink of the 4th industrial revolution.
These positive elements are something we are proud of. But it is also something that most Danes outside of this room take for granted.
You bring international mindset
To convince you that I am not the only person who finds Denmark an attractive place to live and work, let me tell you a little story.
It is about Dawid Augustyn, a young clever fellow from Poland. He came to Denmark in 2014 to study structural engineering.
Now he is employed full-time at one of Denmark’s largest engineering, design and advisory companies, Rambøll.
Already during his studies, he joined Copenhagen Capacity’s career development programme and established contact to Rambøll.
First through an internship, later on through his thesis project.
Dawid came here because of the high professional level at our universities.
Now he is contributing to the growth of one of the most important engineering companies in our country.
Allow me to quote Dawid:
“Danish working culture is at a very high level. Your skills and expertise matter and as an individual you can make a difference. The hierarchy is really flat, which makes it easy to communicate and spread interesting ideas.”
Well thanks for that, Dawid.
When a guy like Dawid - or any of you international students - choose to study here, you bring knowledge, network and international mindset to our the country.
You contribute to an education in dialogue with the world around us by introducing new visions.
And if you choose to stay, you contribute to the growth and prosperity of Denmark, by helping our businesses adapt to a global and increasingly connected world.
Making new acquaintances
Today you will see that all over Denmark you can find large companies that offer aspiring international environments.
Companies like KPMG, COWI, Netcompany, Systematic, Nordea, Microsoft, Accenture and of course A.P. Møller Mærsk.
I hope you will all make the very best of this conference.
Gaining new knowledge, making new acquaintances.
And hopefully - many of you - will take the decision to stay and find employment in what they call ‘one of the happiest nations in the world’.
Cheers and thank you.