Danish Ambassador to the United States Friis Petersen said a nonstop flight between Atlanta and Denmark is encouraging increased business, but Atlanta has yet to convince Danish companies to think of Georgia as a technology center.

Mr. Petersen, who spoke at the Danish American Chamber of Commerce’s Danish Business Summit on Oct. 27, told GlobalAtlanta that Delta Air Lines Inc.’s nonstop flight to Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, was vital for Danish and American companies to facilitate and increase trade relations.

“The flight is much more important than you think. It’s all of Denmark that Copenhagen reaches and all of the Southeast U.S. that Atlanta covers so well. It will increase economic and trade cooperation,” Mr. Petersen said in an interview following the business summit.

Copenhagen, he said, is used as a hub by many airlines in northern Europe because it is easily accessible to the Baltic states, Poland, northern Germany and even China. “In a way, we resemble Atlanta,” he said of Copenhagen’s air hub.

But he added that although Atlanta is important as a commercial center, Danish biotechnology, information technology and venture capital firms look more to Silicon Valley in California and the Northeast U.S. for locating operations.

“Atlanta is trying to catch up,” he said, citing the Georgia Institute of Technology’s research capabilities. “It’s very clear we have to pay attention. But its up against very strong competitors,” he said, referring to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and research centers in Silicon Valley.

“But we take everything into consideration,” he said, referring to a city’s political and economic atmosphere, when asked whether the Danish government would consider Atlanta for a technology innovation center like the one it opened in May in Palo Alto, Calif.

The government opened the center to recruit researchers and “look after” the interests of Danish companies in the technology fields in the U.S., Mr. Petersen said. He visited the center prior to coming to Atlanta for the business summit.

Danish companies are investing “across the board” in the Southeast, he said, citing construction, kitchenware, information technology and other sectors where Danish companies operate here.

“Georgia clearly has a reputation of being a fast-growing part of the U.S. that Danish companies are paying attention to. This summit is a sign of new interest in the Southeast,” he said of the Oct. 27 event.

While here, he also met with Atlanta architect John Portman, who told him Danish design had influenced his own style of architecture and artwork. Mr. Portman was honorary consul of Denmark in Atlanta from 1967 until 1996.

The Danish brand was a topic discussed by the Danish companies participating in the business summit. The country is a small democracy that has a long history of capitalism, yet its social welfare system gives it a distinct identity that is reflected in its products and services, Mr. Petersen said.

“But we look more like the U.S. than you’d believe,” he added.

Small countries, like small companies, need partners to be successful, so Denmark has embraced globalization and set its sights on exporting, Mr. Petersen said.

Danish exports to the U.S. grew 25 percent from 2004 to 2005 and exports to India grew 20 percent during the same period, he noted. Denmark’s largest trading partners are members of the European Union, including Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Denmark exported $10 billion in goods and services to Germany in 2005.

But the U.S. ranked as the country’s fourth largest market in 2005, Mr. Petersen said.

Contact the Danish chamber at (770) 569-8859 or visit www.daccusa.org for more information. Visit www.dabusa.com for information on the Danish Business Summit.