Lolland-Falster and South Zealand can end up becoming the new growth metropolis if the companies in the region approach it correctly. That was the main message from the director of DI-transport, former tax minister Karsten Lauritzen (V) and minister for rural areas Louise Schack Elholm (V), when Dansk Industri Lolland-Falster and Dansk Industri Sydsjælland held a joint business meeting in Holeby on Tuesday.
Able to speak freely
Karsten Lauritzen could clearly speak more freely as DI director than he could as tax minister, and he emphasized that if you want to get something through at Christiansborg, you must have done your homework:
– It is not enough to come to the politicians with an idea or a problem. You must also come up with suggestions on how to do something about it. Then the politicians can implement it more easily, he said.
Potential in green transport
The director from DI-transport mentioned the green transformation of the transport sector as a completely obvious investment area for companies in Lolland-Falster and South Zealand:
– There is good money to be made from sustainable transport in the next 10-15 years. Electric trucks are fine, but they are of little use if you cannot charge them. And hydrogen and gas stations will also be needed in a transitional phase. And Lolland-Falster has enormous potential in relation to green electricity, said Karsten Lauritzen, referring to the fact that Lolland-Falster produces far more wind and solar energy than the region itself can consume.
Easier to integrate the Fehmarn region
Minister for Rural Districts, Louise Schack Elholm (V), emphasized that the integration work between Denmark and Germany has already been going on for a long time in the border region of Southern Jutland. This will make it easier to have a common labor market in the Fehmarnbelt region than it was in the Øresund region:
– We have a double taxation agreement with Germany, so we have an agreement on how we tax. And we have the advantage that we are already a neighboring country to Germany – we have the Danish-German border in Southern Jutland. So I would think that a lot of things have already been taken into account. But it may well be that some barriers arise because it is expensive and difficult to travel via the Fehmarn connection. But there is double taxation, and there are already a lot of people commuting back and forth across the border in Southern Jutland. So it can work well to live in Germany and work in Denmark and vice versa. But still, we have to focus on what else is going on, said Louise Schack Elholm.
Positive towards the element factory
Both the former tax minister and the current minister for rural areas expressed that making the element factory in Rødbyhavn permanent would make good sense in light of the many infrastructure projects that are currently being discussed politically:
– I think you have to look at it constructively. I think it is too early to put two lines under at this time, but I think it sounds interesting, said Louise Schack Elholm.
