COWI establishes subsidiary in China 

As the first Danish firm of consultants to do so, COWI is establishing a 100 per cent owned subsidiary, COWI China Energy, in China. At the same time, COWI is closing down all activities in COWI’s joint venture Yan Dan.

COWI China Energy will initially focus on the energy sector, although later the plan is to expand the company’s consultancy services, explains head of department Birgitte Brinch Madsen, who has been appointed vice-president of the board of directors of the new company:

"This decision gives us a bridgehead in China. But over time we hope to position ourselves to provide support for other COWI activities, so that we will be able to offer services within waste and environment. The aim is for the new company to achieve a double-digit, million-crown turnover within the next five years. Although we are also hoping to establish a company that will be a strong player on the Chinese market and will support our Danish export activities in the energy sector."

Assisting Danish industrial enterprises

Aside from setting up the subsidiary, COWI is also considering establishing an operation in Shanghai to handle consultancy activities within infrastructure – particularly the bridge sector. COWI also wishes to strengthen the work of assisting Danish industrial enterprises to establish production in China - particularly in the special development zone of Suzhou.

The new subsidiary, to be headquartered in Beijing, will be registered by 1 January 2005. The first Chinese member of staff has already been hired and divisional director Lars-Peter Søbye anticipates that with so many new initiatives in the pipeline, COWI could well grow to have more than 100 staff in China ten years from now.

The subsidiary company office is being established at a time when China is experiencing strong growth, with particularly high demand for energy saving services. COWI has experienced this first-hand through its involvement in a number of district heating projects in northern China, where Beijing is the centre of the Chinese energy sector. This development has taken place concurrently with the Chinese market opening up in recent years to allow foreign consultants to establish 100 per cent owned companies in China within the energy, waste and environmental sectors.

Infrastructure

"One of the biggest tasks facing China in coming years will be to establish the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the millions of people expected to relocate from rural to urban areas,” explains Lars-Peter Søbye. “At the same time, in terms of energy this expansion must be both efficient and more environmentally friendly. Our project assignment is essentially a side-effect of this development. There is great demand for this type of consultancy – and we are also expecting increased activity within the bridge sector and in providing assistance to Danish companies."

Published: 23.11.2004
By: Christina Tækker, cht@cowi.com