RIYADH,7 May 2008 — Sweden, which has long been seen by most Saudis as small and cold, is working to put itself on the map when it comes to education, trade and culture in its relations with the Kingdom.
Swedish Ambassador to the Kingdom Jan Thesleff told Arab News that there are some 80 Saudis studying in Sweden and that his government would like to see more. He added that the Ministry of Higher Education is keen to diversify the educational destinations of Saudi students and Sweden aims to be among the recommended countries for the Kingdom’s scholarship program.
“Each country has strengths in a certain area of its educational system, and Sweden has this in its technical and medicine programs,” the ambassador said. He added that the Swedish Royal Academy for Engineering Sciences, which creates links between all engineering schools and higher technology institutions across the country, is in the process of discussing a memorandum of understanding with King Saud University (KSU) to expand educational cooperation.
He noted that the Swedish government does not directly sponsor scholarship programs with countries such as Saudi Arabia. But, recently, several Swedish companies, as well as technical institutions, have signed a number of agreements with KSU to have Saudis going to Sweden. “Saudi engineers will be sponsored by the engineering company Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) to complete their higher education in Sweden,” Thesleff said, adding that the first group will be going this September.
Another company, SAAB, will assist KSU to build a research department in engineering. Research and technology transfer are key elements for expanded relations.
However, Sweden’s desire to diversify its educational cooperation with the Kingdom also includes academic institutions. “Jönköping University concluded an agreement with KSU in December 2007 to help the university develop its business and management academic program,” he said.
Some 700 Swedes are currently working in the Kingdom. The ambassador said that when he first came here two years ago, he noticed strong bilateral relations in some areas. “But ties in others were too narrow. I have taken on the task of expanding relations, as well as deepening them,” Thesleff said.
“The Kingdom is our biggest trading partner in the Middle East with the total value of Swedish exports to Saudi Arabia estimated at $1.4 billion. There are 42 Swedish companies present in the Kingdom currently while many others operate through Saudi agents,” he said.
Thesleff added that his country is preparing several projects to explore further trade opportunities with the Kingdom.
One of them is a program that will assist Saudi small and medium size companies to grow by internationalizing their business.
The ambassador noted that major companies represent the bulk of exports and industry in both countries. The challenge, however, is how to get new small- and middle-sized companies to grow.
The six economic cities that are to be built by 2020 is particularly attractive to Swedish companies to share their expertise on what makes a sustainable city work. Thesleff noted that a Swedish delegation would visit the Kingdom this fall to present an outline for this project, entitled “Symbiocity.” The project will cover several environmental issues such as how to handle salt waste, wastewater, recycling and using optimal solutions for cooling or heating.
However, Thesleff thinks that cultural ties should be stressed and his main concern now is to deepen them.
Sweden ended on Sunday a cultural exchange project entitled “Riyadh is calling Malmo, are you with us?” This followed an agreement in 2007 between Saudi Ministry of Education and Spiritus Mundi (Embrace the World), an independent Swedish non-profit organization to promote cultural relations between children of both countries.
He pointed out that Saudi Arabia is the fourth country — after Oman, Bahrain and Jordan — to establish ties for cultural cooperation with this organization.
The program brought 18 Swedish children, aged 12, from Malmo, 600 km from the capital Stockholm, to participate in cultural activities with Saudi children. They held exhibitions and other activities with Saudi children in Riyadh and Jeddah.
The organization also aims to correct the negative image of Muslims in the Western media. Thesleff stressed that the Kingdom is a great place to advance the programs because it has a great symbolic value for Muslims everywhere, including Malmo where Muslims constitute some 20 percent of the population.
