Lack of immigrant entrepreneurs costing billions, says think-tank

Gross domestic product could explode if more immigrants become entrepreneurs

Jun 10, 2015

Recent calculations by the liberal think-tank Cepos show that Denmark’s gross domestic product (GDP) would increase by 4.5 billion kroner annually if immigrants created businesses in the country at the same level as other countries Denmark is often compared to.

“There is significant untapped economic potential because entrepreneurial activity is very low among Danish immigrants,” Otto Brøns-Petersen, the head of research at Cepos, told Børsen.

A long way to go
Cepos’s calculations are based on figures from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. They show that countries like Sweden, Norway and the UK are better at giving immigrants a leg-up as entrepreneurs.

It would take 17,000 immigrants becoming entrepreneurs before Denmark was on an equal footing with Britain.

Great potential
Andreas Kamm, the secretary general of Dansk Flygtningehjælp, the Danish refugee council, believes there is untapped potential among immigrants.

“There is potential among immigrants,” Kamm told Børsen. “They have the drive and courage to create businesses because they have been accustomed to fending for themselves.”

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