Positive Trade Trends

Looking back at 2010, I am pleased to note that trade between Sweden and Israel seems to have recovered after the financial crisis worldwide.

We are now seeing positive trends in exports as well as imports. During the year, we have also seen the establishment and expansion of well-known Swedish companies in Israel, such as H&M and IKEA.

In 2010, I also had the pleasure of receiving my Israeli colleague, Mr. Binyamin Ben Eliezer, in Stockholm. I very much value our dialogue, and I look forward to continuing our fruitful discussions, hopefully in Israel next time.

Looking ahead, I see great potential for developing Swedish-Israeli cooperation in many areas, such as R&D, innovation and green tech. Cooperation between Swedish Vinnova and its Israeli counterparts is one successful example to build upon.

I hope to be able to visit Israel in 2011 to continue our efforts to promote trade and business relations between our two countries.

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Economic Outreach

The year 2010 was a year of recuperation. The economy is again on the way up and new opportunities are knocking on the door. A time of growth always brings about new possibilities for cooperation.

This is already happening as we witness growth in trade, mutual business delegations and agreements between Israel and Scandinavia.

I would like to congratulate Cimber Air for opening a direct link from Scandinavia to Israel. I hope more airline companies will follow, making travel and business cooperation easier.

The Swedish retail has attracted a lot of interest in Israel in the past year with the opening of H&M's first shops and Ikea's second shop.

Israel was accepted this year as a full member of the OECD. It is also currently the chair of Eureka, the European research fund. Israel's innovation combined with the Scandinavian skill and know-how can together create new value. Cooperation in the cleantech and life-sciences sectors is already taking place.

Earlier in the year I visited Sweden and one of the results was the strengthening of our cooperation in R&D. A joint call for proposals for bilateral R&D has recently been issued by Vinnova and Israel's Chief Scientist. I hope to see many Swedish and Israeli companies submitting proposals.

I wish us all a good and fruitful year.