COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Danish engineering company FLSmidth on Friday received an Egyptian order worth 450 million kroner ($72 million) despite a widespread boycott of Danish products throughout the Arab world over the Prophet Mohammed cartoons.
Spanish-Egyptian joint venture Arabian Cement Company placed the order for engineering services and equipment for the construction of a cement plant near the city of Suez.
The reason we have received this order, despite all the chaos surrounding the newspaper drawings, is our very good contacts created in the Middle East over many years, FLSmidth chief executive Joergen Huno Rasmussen told The Associated Press.
From Havarti cheese to Lego toys, products made in Denmark have been yanked off store shelves throughout the Middle East and in other Muslim countries where governments and consumers have demanded an apology for the printing of 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September.
One of Europe s largest dairy companies, the Danish-Swedish Arla Foods, is thought to be the worst hit, losing an estimated $1.6 million each day.
So far the Danish government has refused to apologize, saying it s not responsible for what is printed in a newspaper. AP
