With Sweden's strengths and India's ambitions, easy to double trade

Ambassador to India since 2022, Jan Thesleff, and Sofia Högman, Sweden's Trade Commissioner to India and head of Business Sweden in India, tell Archis Mohan in New Delhi that they are hopeful of India-Sweden trade and investments doubling in the next few years, helped by the current geoeconomic situation. Edited excerpts:

- Jan Thesleff Swedish Ambassador to India Sofia Högman Sweden's Trade Commissioner to India

What is the objective of the 'Time for Sweden' campaign launched last week?

Thesleff: We feel that with our track record in India, and also the changing geoeconomic situation globally, Sweden and India should get closer together when it comes to trade, mutual investments, and collaborations on research, science and technology.

We currently have a very good presence in India. We have 280 Swedish companies here, and employ some 220,000 Indians directly, creating 2.2 million livelihoods. There are 75 Indian companies in Sweden, and employ around 10,000 people, which is also substantial considering our size. We had a bilateral trade of $7 billion (in 2024). India's investments in Sweden have lately gone up 190 per cent.