Zubair Qureshi
Ambassador of Denmark Jakob Linulf Saturday evening organized a reception to bid farewell to two members of his team, Deputy Head of Mission (DHM) Simon Fasterkjaer Kjeldsen and Head of Green Growth & Sustainability at the Royal Denmark Embassy, Maria Ana Petrera.
While wishing them success and happiness in their future endeavours, Ambassador Linulf regarded their work at the embassy extremely valuable and termed them very productive and proactive members of his team. He said while addressing his deputy, “I wish you Simon, your wife Anne Cathrine and the little one my best wishes.” Throughout his tenure, Simon worked with utmost dedication, the ambassador said, particularly mentioning his role in safe evacuation of the Danish nationals from Kabul in the mid of August 2021. It was a time when Simon spent almost a fortnight away from his family and office. He even spent several nights at the Islamabad airport organizing the mission successfully, said the Danish envoy.
He also praised Maria Ana Petrera, head of a relatively new but very significant section in the embassy i.e. Green Growth & Sustainability and lauded her input. She has been instrumental in realizing the Green Framework Engagement Agreement signed a couple of days earlier between Denmark and Pakistan, he said. “You too, Maria, were a key member of my team and I wish you success and joy in future,” he said.
While expressing his gratitude to the ambassador, colleagues and the foreign and the Pakistani friends, Simon Kjeldsen said it was indeed a very precious memory he was taking along that of working in Pakistan. My family and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time here in Pakistan, he said adding, it has been a true adventure and something they will always remember. Despite challenging framework conditions, the Embassy team has been highly successful, he said and underlined that the bilateral relation between Denmark and Pakistan was thriving and they just witnessed by the just concluded visit of the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy where a Green Action Plan was launched between the countries.
Simon pointed out three key elements for having had success in the demanding role as Deputy during his first posting abroad. Firstly, great colleagues, in relation to which he made reference to the Embassy team consisting of skilled posted and local staff. We worked day and night with Pakistani authorities during the Danish evacuation from Afghanistan via Pakistan in 2021 as well as preparing and conducting two high-level Minister visits from Denmark in 2021 and 2023. Secondly, he pointed to the interesting tasks and said “Work wise there had never been a dull moment in Pakistan”. Thirdly, he highlighted the importance of having a motivating boss whereas he complimented his current superior, the Danish Ambassador Jakob Linulf, under whose leadership the Danish Embassy in Islamabad had recently received one of the best scores on workplace satisfaction in the entire Danish Foreign Service, he said. Simon also lauded his wife, who had been a “stellar rock of support throughout their time in Pakistan”. They now looked forward to the new challenges in their home country of Denmark. Maria Petrera also thanked the ambassador and the colleagues at the embassy for their support. She reiterated her commitment to the Denmark embassy’s commitment to green transition and hoped the Pakistan government would soon start implementing the green framework engagement agreement with the support of Denmark.
