Swedish businesses see India as a challenging market with tremendous potential

Swedish businesses see India as a “challenging market with tremendous potential”, says Klas Molin, Sweden’s ambassador to India. His comment was in the context of the recent measures taken by New Delhi to attract investment under its Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India programme that also aims to make India part of international supply chains. In an interview, Molin has made a case for “transparent, predictable and fair regulatory environment as well as well-developed infrastructure” for Swedish businesses to thrive in India. Clean energy, innovation, artificial intelligence and 5G are areas with potential, he adds.

It seems that India has a renewed focus on Europe if you look at the summits at the PM level and Foreign ministerial visits. What is your reaction to this?
We of course welcome intensified and deepened relations between India and Europe. There are many areas where there is scope for even stronger Indo-European cooperation, including sustainable development and climate change, trade and innovation.

Where does Sweden fit into this renewed focus of India’s on Europe?
Sweden and India have always been strong partners. Since Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Sweden in 2018, the innovation partnership has become one of the flagships of our relations. In fact, it is one of only three partnerships Sweden has. The common thread of innovations runs through almost all our collaborations.

Synergies are excellent also when it comes to the exchange of ideas, technology, trade and investment. Our two countries have a lot to contribute when it comes to finding solutions to the global challenges of our time. For example, India and Sweden have assumed global leadership for the green transition of heavy industries by establishing LeadIT (the Leadership Group on Industry Transition) at the UN Climate Summit last fall. Also, our close cooperation on health and life science has only accelerated during the pandemic. The Joint Innovation Partnership is a key driver of this development. We want to continue integrating our innovation ecosystems and deepening trade and investment relations. Together, India and Sweden can play an important part in creating a green, healthy and sustainable tomorrow for both our countries and for the world.

What has been Sweden’s response to the recent changes in India’s investment laws/norms? Is it easier for Swedish companies to do business in India? Which are the areas where there needs to be improvement still you think? Is India still seen as a tough market to be in?

We welcome India’s efforts to become an even more attractive business and investment destination and have a running dialogue on this. For Swedish companies to thrive in India, a transparent, predictable and fair regulatory environment as well as well-developed infrastructure are key. Also, the importance of being able to conduct business in a sustainable way is increasing by the day. In Sweden, India is seen as a challenging market with tremendous potential.

Have you been engaging India in conversations about 5G technology? What’s been India’s response to this? What’s the debate like on 5G at home in Europe? What is the response to Ericsson been like in Europe? Is Artificial Intelligence a potential area for cooperation?

Sweden is one of the leading nations in the world when it comes to 5G technology, notably through Ericsson – one of the major global developers of 5G technology. We see tremendous scope for 5G technology to drive the development of smarter, more connected, and more sustainable societies and look forward to 5G networks being rolled out globally.

As we see it, the debate on 5G in Europe has been similar to the one in Sweden. We are very happy to note that Ericsson’s leading 5G technology has been very well received in many countries, in Europe and globally.

Artificial Intelligence is definitely an interesting area, where Sweden and India are already collaborating. Vinnova, Sweden’s Innovation Agency, and the Department of Biotechnology in India have recently had a joint call on health and AI. We hope to continue this cooperation and efforts of integrating the Swedish and Indian AI innovation ecosystems more closely.

Covid-19 has made people talk about the China plus one strategy. Is India one of the countries that you would recommend for the plus one alternative?
We are working actively to make sure Swedish companies are well informed about India, when they make investment decisions. We are happy to have a close policy dialogue with the Government of India and other relevant stakeholders about how Swedish industry can contribute to a strong, sustainable recovery after the pandemic.

Many countries in Europe are coming up or looking at an Indo-Pacific strategy. Is this something that interests Sweden as well?

The region is very important to Sweden. We note also the renewed political interest and are engaging with the region our EU partners and others.

How have India and Sweden been collaborating in the fight against Covid-19?
The Covid crisis has seen a rise in secondary infections and thereby an increase in antibiotic usage for patient treatment.

We have an excellent cooperation under the MoU of Health Care and Public Health. Public health agencies from our countries are collaborating in infection control with focus on AMR (antimicrobial resistance). Sweden has expertise and technologies to curb infections in hospitals (hospital acquired infections) and we are in dialogue with the Health Ministry to strengthen and expand our collaborations in AMR/infection control. More discussions are planned during the forthcoming India-Sweden Joint Working Group meeting this month in areas like digital health and elderly care which directly relates to the current pandemic.

Astra Zeneca is working with the Serum Institute of India in Pune. Hopefully this will result in giving the world another vaccine to fight the global pandemic.

What is the collaboration between India and Sweden like in the area of climate change and green and renewable energy technology? Is this an area that Swedish companies would like to invest in more given that India is looking to generate more energy from renewables to keep its SDG and UNFCC targets?

Sweden is very keen to collaborate even more closely with India in this area. Our joint leadership on the green transition heavy industries by establishing LeadIT is a recent example of this. However, Sweden and India have already collaborated on this for a long time, including through India-Sweden Innovations’ Accelerator – a program that has brought innovative Swedish start-ups in the clean energy segment to India. ABB and Hitachi ABB Powergrids are already having leading positions in the Indian market for power grids and electrification and we look forward to seeing them contribute to India’s green transition. Leading Swedish venture capitalist EQT is driving investment in renewable energy in India through their stake in O2 Power. Livemint