READ PRESS RELEASE, OCTOBER 2011

A delegation of north German scientists travelled to Copenhagen on 5 October 2011 upon an initiative of Lübeck Chamber of Industry and Commerce in order to exchange with their Danish colleagues ideas on the importance of biobanks in translational medicine during a Biopeople workshop at Copenhagen University.

Photo: Regional Manager Dirk Hermsmeyer, Lübeck Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and Director of Biopeople, Per Spindler.

We are strengthning collaboration and growth in the region by promoting academic and industry cooperation along the Fehmarnbelt axis from Hamburg via Lübeck into the Öresund region (Copenhagen, Malmö, Lund) and Denmark.

„It is true that it will be a number of years before the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link shall be opened for traffic in 2020. But a well-directed look into Scandinavia and in particular into the Öresund region pays off for entrepreneurs and research institutions from Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg already today: The region offers the business potential of a wealthy population of about 3.7 million. A population very open-minded towards international exchange. The Biopeople Innovation Network is just one good example. On the other hand, many good products and services ‘Made in Germany’ can be offered at competitive prices in Scandinavia”, says Dirk Hermsmeyer.

Around the workshop concrete ideas for transnational cooperation were discussed between researchers from the University of Lübeck and their Danish colleagues. Per Spindler, Director of the Biopeople, and Dirk Hermsmeyer, Regional Manager at the Lübeck Chamber, agreed to continue the initiative for networking entrepreneurs and organisations from northern Germany and the Öresund region.

Driving time from Copenhagen/Malmö to Stockholm is about 6.5 hours. Already today – long before the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link is opened – the driving time from Copenhagen to Lübeck is about two hours shorter. This is another reason why Öresund businesses and organisations like to look into northern Germany. Opening of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel will shorten the trip by another hour. Northern Germany will move even further into the focus of Southern Scandinavian – and vice versa.