India is certainly the bright spot in the global economy today and I especially look forward to my visit to New Delhi, for the first meeting of the India Sweden Business Leaders Round Table, gathering a highlevel Swedish business presence. This manifests a high interest from Sweden in India, attracted by a dynamic development and the high ambitions we see shaping the future. The magnitude and diversity of India has the potential to drive development and change, such as Make in India and Smart Cities, Digital India and other flagship projects aims at.
I believe Swedish innovation has a lot to offer India and our partnership not least in these fields, just as we know that India has a lot to offer Sweden and Swedish industry. Building on the commitment of our Prime Ministers’ meeting in Mumbai in February of this year, I now visit India with a strong industry delegation for a first formal meeting of the India Sweden Business Leaders’ Round Table. This will be the first time that the leaders of our two countries’ business communities can sit down in this unique high level format to identify and discuss possible fields of future cooperation. This discussion will undoubtedly lead to new and interesting fields of cooperation.
I will be bold and say that creativity flourishes in all sectors in Sweden: in the traditional technical sectors as well as in the creative industries and the public sector. Our tradition is strong in cooperation between Government and society, including academia and industry. With strong government and societal support for industry to meet societal challenges domestically as well as globally, our industry has risen to be global leaders in key fields. This has strengthened Sweden’s position in the global economy. Because of our limited local market, our drive to support global free trade is strong.
Examples of Swedish innovations that have become a world standard are the propeller, dynamite and the pacemaker, as well as 2G, 3G, 4G and soon 5G. Innovation drives both the traditional industry to do things better as well as the start-ups and the creative industries. I think that this diversity is one explanation for why Sweden is consistently ranked as the European Union’s number one innovator and one of the global leaders when it comes to innovation.
{{/usCountry}}Examples of Swedish innovations that have become a world standard are the propeller, dynamite and the pacemaker, as well as 2G, 3G, 4G and soon 5G. Innovation drives both the traditional industry to do things better as well as the start-ups and the creative industries. I think that this diversity is one explanation for why Sweden is consistently ranked as the European Union’s number one innovator and one of the global leaders when it comes to innovation.
{{/usCountry}}The public sector is a key driver of strong innovation, traditionally requesting better solutions for citizens and society, but also providing education, healthcare and security. It is not enough to innovate. It is clear to me that there has to be a strong commitment from all involved parties in order to successfully implement these innovations. In Sweden, the public sector has taken on a role of supporting both small test projects as well as introducing rules and regulations to ensure a long-term success of new inventions. We want to see more examples of this.
And the strong India Sweden-partnership gives us an opportunity to explore together what innovation can do to strengthen our cooperation and further our partnership. We already have examples of Swedish innovations entering India at all levels, but we want to see more and give them a higher profile. Areas such as electric mobility, renewable energy, sustainable urban development, defence and digitalisation are among those that can benefit from such a deepened cooperation, driven by innovation. India faces enormous challenges, for its population to rise; to handle urbanisation and development sustainably; and to prosper and compete on global market. None of this may be possible without innovation. Sweden and India are well matched to take on these in partnership.
(Mikael Damberg is minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Sweden.)