Trade and investment promotion

On 9 April, Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell gathered leading actors in Team Sweden for a high-level meeting. The aim was to jointly foster better conditions for improved global competitiveness and foreign trade, and bolster Sweden’s position internationally. The Government organised the meeting to discuss the work already in progress and the joint path forward.

Today, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell presented the Government’s Music Export Prize to Loreen. Europe were awarded the Government’s Special Prize and the Honourable Mention went to Melodifestivalen.

The Government will task the Swedish Institute with establishing and coordinating a Team Sweden group to create positive interest and confidence in Sweden abroad. This initiative is being presented today, 9 April, at a high-level meeting that includes discussions and a presentation of the work on Sweden’s strategy for foreign trade, investment and global competitiveness (the foreign trade strategy) with leading actors within Team Sweden. Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation Ebba Busch and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell hosted the meeting.

On 10 April, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell will present the Government’s Music Export Prize for 2023. The nominees include internationally successful Swedish artists and songwriters.

Sweden is a leading donor of development assistance, but meeting the funding needs for a green and digital transition requires closer cooperation between development assistance and trade, greater mobilisation of private capital and harnessing the business sector’s innovation capacity. A current example of this is Sweden’s partnership with Bangladesh, which HRH Crown Princess Victoria visited together with Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell on 18–21 March.

The visit to Bangladesh will take place on 18–21 March on the occasion of HRH The Crown Princess’s role as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP Assistant Secretary General Ulrika Modéer will also take part.

Sweden has signed a joint statement on principles for the development of the future 6G policies. The statement was presented on 27 February 2024 in connection with the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It includes an agreement on common principles that will guide research and development of future 6G policies both domestically and internationally.

On 29 February, the Government adopted a regulation on special export credit guarantees for Ukraine. This enables exporting businesses to apply for export credit guarantees from the Swedish Export Credit Agency. The guarantees will apply to exports to Ukraine that can contribute to its development and welfare. The Government has also decided to open a trade commissioner’s office in Kyiv and will appoint a new trade commissioner in Ukraine.

Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell has replied to questions about the new direction for Swedish development assistance. In particular, he stressed the importance of peace and security in Ukraine and the neighbourhood, and synergies between development assistance and trade, as fundamental to Sweden’s strategic work on development assistance.

The strategy for Sweden’s trade, investment and global competitiveness was presented on 1 December 2023.

The visit to California will take place on 19–22 February together with Their Royal Highnesses Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. A business delegation led by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in cooperation with Business Sweden will also take part. Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel’s official visit is taking place at the request of the Government. The aim is to broaden and develop relations with California in the areas of innovation, green transition and emerging technologies, with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI). The new Swedish Consulate-General in San Francisco will also be inaugurated in connection with the visit.

A Swedish Consulate-General will open on 1 January 2024 in San Francisco, and its areas of responsibility will include the states of California and Hawaii. The Consulate-General will enhance Sweden’s presence on the west coast of the United States, and the possibilities to conduct active trade and promotion of Sweden’s activities, as well as provide consular support.

The Government and the Sweden Democrats today presented a new strategic direction for Swedish development assistance entitled Development assistance for a new era – freedom, empowerment and sustainable growth.

The Government has adopted a new trade strategy, with the objective of giving Swedish businesses the best possible conditions to both address emerging challenges and of harness business opportunities that arise in the green and digital transition.

Opinion piece of 30 November 2023 by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch, Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell.

On 4–5 September, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell is visiting Cairo for meetings with the Egyptian Government and Swedish and Egyptian companies. Egypt is Sweden’s second-largest export market on the African continent, and the aim of the trip is to further trade between the countries.

On 21 June, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell attended an annual conference on Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. The discussions focused on how to facilitate the business sector’s engagement in reconstruction efforts.

The Government has adopted a new strategy for Sweden’s recovery and reform cooperation with Ukraine for 2023–2027. The strategy will provide a total of approximately EUR 522 million (SEK 6 billion) and is Sweden’s largest-ever bilateral development assistance strategy.

The Council of the European Union will today adopt a decision to sign a free trade agreement with New Zealand. It will also adopt a decision to authorise the European Commission to open negotiations on agreements on digital trade rules with Singapore and South Korea, and on the conclusion of digital trade principles with Japan.

The UK and Sweden share historic ties of friendship and are essential allies. We have forged a strong partnership, based on shared values and in support of multilateralism and a rules-based international order. We are united in our steadfast commitment to working together for the security and protection of our citizens and to strengthen European security as a whole. This Leaders’ Statement celebrates and reasserts the enduring and extensive connections between the United Kingdom and Sweden, which benefit from the agreements between the United Kingdom and the European Union, of which Sweden is a member.