A coffee on doing business in Greenland

On 8 May, Christian Keldsen, CEO of Greenland Business Association, joined Andreas Wenzel for a coffee and shared his insights. 

The conversation focused on Greenland’s growing strategic importance in a shifting European business landscape. Renewed EU engagement and increasing international interest underlined Greenland’s role in future value chains. While the country had historically relied on a narrow economic base, it was increasingly focusing on opportunities across tourism, critical minerals, energy and water. A key challenge discussed was how to translate this potential into sustainable value creation and long-term economic diversification. 

Greenland Business Association (GBA) had represented the interests of the Greenlandic business community since 1966 and, at the time of the talk, brought together around 320 companies across all sectors, employing approximately 8,400 people. As the country’s largest business organisation, GBA represented a significant share of overall economic activity and held a central position in dialogue with political institutions and public authorities. The organisation worked to improve framework conditions for businesses across Greenland, while also serving as a knowledge hub by providing advisory services and facilitating networking, advocacy and business development initiatives. 

The topics of the 30-minute talk were: 

• Why Greenland mattered at that moment 
• From strong foundations to a broader business base 
• Tourism – from visibility to value creation 
• Critical minerals and mining – Greenland in future value chains 
• Energy and water – enabling the next generation of industry