Delhi: The 4th meeting of the India-Denmark Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from August 24 to 28, 2026, to strengthen bilateral cooperation in MSME development, innovation and intellectual property (IP).
The India-Denmark Joint Working Group meeting provided a platform for India and Denmark to exchange perspectives on their respective MSME and innovation ecosystems and explore opportunities for greater institutional cooperation.
Discussions under the India-Denmark Joint Working Group covered several areas, including technology adoption, innovation, intellectual property, technology commercialisation, entrepreneurship and cluster-based MSME development.
Indian and Danish Delegations
The Indian delegation at the India-Denmark Joint Working Group meeting was led by Dr. Rajneesh, Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME.
The delegation also included Md. Salik Parwaiz, Director; Bhagya Jagadiswaran, Assistant Director; and Swapna Vanamala, Faculty Member, National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ni-msme).
The Embassy of India in Copenhagen was represented by Manish Prabhat, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Denmark, and Ashish Arya, Counsellor.
The Danish delegation comprised Maria Skou, Deputy Director General, DKPTO; Mattias Dinnetz, Senior Advisor, International Cooperation, DKPTO; and Louise Boisen, Counsellor, Intellectual Property Rights, Royal Danish Embassy, New Delhi.
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India-Denmark Joint Working Group: Key Takeaways and Engagements
As part of the programme, the Indian delegation visited Aarhus University Innovation “Kitchen” and Agro Food Park to gain insights into Denmark’s innovation support and business cluster ecosystems.
The engagements under the India-Denmark Joint Working Group facilitated an exchange of experiences on mentoring, start-up support, industry–academia linkages and cluster-based approaches for supporting entrepreneurs and MSMEs.
The delegation also engaged with the Danish Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs to exchange views on business development, innovation and the SME ecosystem in Denmark.
The India-Denmark Joint Working Group delegation, led by Dr. Rajneesh, Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, also participated in the Nordic–India Startup Summit 2026 by TechBBQ, a leading Nordic start-up event.
The summit provided an opportunity to interact with stakeholders from the Nordic start-up and innovation ecosystem and share perspectives on India’s MSME sector.
Future Priorities Under India-Denmark Joint Working Group
The concluding discussions of the India-Denmark Joint Working Group reviewed the outcomes of previous engagements and deliberated upon priorities for future collaboration and opportunities to expand cooperation under the existing JWG framework.
Ambassador of India to Denmark, Manish Prabhat, appreciated the successful functioning of the JWG mechanism and the deepening of India–Denmark cooperation.
He reaffirmed support for continued engagement under the India-Denmark Joint Working Group framework and encouraged exploration of new and complementary areas of cooperation.
The meeting underscored the shared commitment of India and Denmark to promoting innovation and IP-led growth of MSMEs, while strengthening knowledge exchange, institutional linkages and opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation.
The 4th meeting of the India-Denmark Joint Working Group thus focused on strengthening institutional cooperation between the two countries across MSME development, innovation and intellectual property, while reviewing previous engagements and identifying priorities for future collaboration.
