Jesper Møller Sørensen welcomed hundreds of guests to a business and cultural event on the Danish embassy’s premises in Islamabad recently. He and the embassy staff were in red polo shirts, with ‘Creative Denmark’ written in white, depicting the colours of the Danish flag.

It was a bright sunny afternoon and the Danish ‘saftvand’, a squash cocktail of berries quenched the thirst, and that was certainly needed if one had also ventured into a bite of the salt, cured herring, a typical Northern European sandwich topping, on brown rye bread.

Obviously, the Danish veal meatballs were there, and also samples of Danish pastry.

‘Det lille land’, the little land, with five million inhabitants, is famous for dairy products, so cheese was served, with sweet and spicy jam.

And all had been shipped to Pakistan by ‘Maersk Line’, the Danish shipping line with more than 600 container vessels, which is one of the largest in the world.

Save for fertile agricultural land and fish in the ocean, Denmark’s natural resources are limited. Hence, the Danes have become wealthy mainly trough trade, shipping and advanced manufacturing industry.

The ‘Lego’ toys are Danish, and today children can also build windmills, not only petrol stations, as is appropriate considering that Denmark is a world leader in renewable electricity generation from wind mills and sea waves.

The six-member trade delegation, who had come from Denmark, mingled with the guests, guided by Assar Qureshi, the commercial attaché, who is a Danish diplomat with a Pakistani name and heritage.

Some of the major Danish companies in Pakistan had their mini-stalls in the embassy courtyard, along with a handful of Danish NGOs. The ‘Rocqawali’ fusion band entertained.

Ambassador Sørensen said that there is potential for expansion of trade and other cooperation between Denmark and Pakistan.

The annual trade volume has not yet reached $200 million. The aid budget is $50 million. The large community of Danes of Pakistani heritage is a great asset to Denmark, and many do very well in their new homeland.

A Pakistani who had followed the recent news mentioned that Denmark had this year been listed as the land of the happiest people on earth.

“And with more trade and other cooperation, there will be greater prosperity and people will be happier both in Denmark and Pakistan,” joked Sameena Nazir, head of the women rights organisation, PODA, in Islamabad.

— Text and pho­to by Atle Hetland & Shahbaz Chaudary

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2014