Denmark’s pension and insurance companies are ready to invest as part of the government’s 2035 transport and infrastructure plan, according to lobby group Insurance & Pension Denmark (IPD).
The Danish government announced its countrywide infrastructure plan for the next 14 years on Thursday, with a headline figure of DKK160bn which it said included DKK106bn for new projects and initiatives, as well as DKK55bn to complete projects already in progress and existing maintenance work.
On top of this, DKK12.7bn is being reserved for the establishment of a road and metro service for the new Copenhagen artificial island of Lynetteholmen, the government said.
Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen said: “Denmark must be a country where there are good opportunities to make everyday life cohesive - no matter where you live.”
By 2035, he said, the plans would bind the whole of Denmark together even more strongly and reduce the experience of distance between country and city or between family and work.
“At the same time, the plan will help lay the foundation for the green transition of transport,” the Social Democrat government minister said.
The new proposal includes construction of new sections of motorway, new bridges, the development of public transport and a green investment plan.
Though the political document published yesterday makes no mention of involving private capital, it does state that new infrastructure forming part of regional development projects will safeguard opportunities for urban development - and attract private capital.
“In several places in the country, new roads are a key element in the development of businesses and new residential areas, and not least opportunities to attract private investors,” the government said in the document.
Tom Vile Jensen, deputy director of IPD, said the lobby group’s members could contribute to the infrastructure plan via public-private partnerships (PPPs).
As an industry, Danish pension and insurance firms already have DKK113bn of infrastructure investments, according to IPD.
“Infrastructure projects as large as the ones the government is planning require massive investments in order to succeed,” Vile Jensen said.
“We as an industry are ready to contribute on that front. This can, for example, be in the form of PPP projects, which we already have a lot of experience with on Danish soil,” he said.
The companies had experience of large highway projects in other countries, as well as bridge construction, he said.
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