The objective of the Maritime Development Center of Europe is to spearhead development and growth in the maritime sector. This goal shall be achieved trough close and unorthodox co-operation between the different maritime sectors in the Øresund region.

Both Denmark and Sweden have strong and solid positions as maritime nations established over many generations. However, the sector is changing faster than before and everybody involved must think and act quickly if they are to continue to lead the way.

Globalization means greater competition and we are not in a position to compete on wages in northern Europe. Instead, we must invest in technology and expertise – we have to build more knowledge into our products and services.

The Maritime Development Center of Europe is a new interest association based in the Øresund region. The Secretariat is located in Copenhagen, and members are from both Denmark and Sweden.

The association is a forum which provides access to both partners and information, and is to serve as a focal point for regional and international networks. It is also working intensively to raise the profile of the maritime sector in the minds of both politicians and the general public.

In brief, we shall seek to play a role in setting the maritime agenda, not only in terms of research, development and education, but also when it comes to international standards, rules and regulations.

The 125 members include:

• Shipowners and operators
• Shipyards
• Equipment manufacturers
• Port Authorities
• Forwarders
• Service companies
• Research and higher education institutions
• Authorities
• Trade organizations
• Finance and insurance companies

Carsten Melchiors, Managing Director, states:

- Everything can be handled here: Design, building, all equipment is available, maintenance, etc. We have a highly developed and qualified educational system and further training programmes available which live up to international standards. The relationship to the research institutions and authorities is very essential – and that must be maintained. However, many equipment and component manufacturers feel that they are under strong pressure for the moment, says Carsten Melchiors.

- The equipment and component manufacturers are loosing market shares for the moment. This is due to the fact that the development in the shipyard industry is placed as far away as in Korea and China and there is an increasing local production in Asia and an increasing tendency to use local sub-suppliers.

- Maritime Development Center of Europe aims to promote the development of business ideas by establishing Internet based networks for dialogue and co-operation between maritime companies and institutions.

- The competition makes it necessary for us to co-operate and to perform product-development in a new and different way within the maritime sector. We are more than able to do so because - with few exceptions - our maritime companies are small or medium sized enterprises. This is a strength. Thus, they are dynamic and flexible. Their ability to adapt quickly is far greater and the costs connected with such change is far lower for them than it is for the large conglomerates. Just think about the costs involved with changing IT equipment in a large company. It costs a fortune in equipment, education, etc. A small company can change in one week. And if they share knowledge, experiences, ideas and inspire each other mutually in Internet based networks they can increase their success rate significantly. By establishing such networks we hope to promote development and exchange of ideas so that we can reduce the development time on new competitive products.

There are a number of research and education institutions among the members of the Development Center.

- We shall connect advanced research environments with the production so that the production can benefit from the research results immediately. In the old days several years would pass before research results was translated into something that could be used in the industry. Today the changes happen so quickly that there is simply no time to do things like we used to, says Carsten Melchiors.

- Because we need to maintain our competitive edge we shall connect research and production far more efficiently, Carsten Melchiors concludes.