In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Bjorling said she was chosen not because of her gender, but because she had proven to be competent in the fields of economy and trade.

“I feel that a country needs to focus on making use of both genders in order for it to be productive in contributing to the economy and benefiting the nation,” she said.

“I would like to see more women in Saudi Arabia and all over the world enter the field of economy,” she said.

Bjorling said that there were currently many women graduating from Saudi universities but they have few choices. “I believe competence should be the only criteria when deciding in someone’s favor, not gender. I also feel that it is very important to solve this situation as gender separation in certain fields in the country is hindering productivity. The focus should not be on gender but on competence and nothing else, and that will require cooperation of the entire country,” she said.

Bjorling said she saw huge potential in Saudi women. “They are qualified and confident, and their expertise needs to be exploited,” she added. She felt that change must occur, especially if the new generation is to increase productivity and manage the economy for the future.

Speaking about Sweden’s recent surge of interest in Saudi Arabia as a trade partner, Bjorling said that following the global financial crisis, the Swedish economy unfortunately had become a dependent one and that Swedish Trade Ministry studies found a decrease in all trade markets except Saudi Arabia.

“We have actually found an increase of 35 percent in the Saudi Arabian market which has resulted in our adding a sharper focus on the Gulf region — and particularly Saudi Arabia — as the largest economy in the Gulf,” she said, adding that there were also many people of Iraqi origin currently living in Sweden who have an interest in goods from the region and that this naturally makes Saudi Arabia an attractive trading partner for Sweden as well as a very important market.

As for the future of trade ties between Sweden and Saudi Arabia, Bjorling said that the plan was to continue creating strategic ties in addition to focusing on industries such as health care and environmental solutions.

According to Bjorling, the Ministry of Trade is currently busy fostering stimulation and cooperation between small and medium enterprises with an emphasis on trading with each other as well as trading abroad.

“Presently, we have many companies dealing in system solutions, city planning, architecture, wind and solar energy, and system solutions for water and wastewater and its handling. We would like to see the issue of wastewater not as a problem but as an opportunity for energy,” Bjorling said and explained that Sweden can provide a system that converts wastewater into biogas, which can be used as a clean alternative energy source.

According to Bjorling, a free trade agreement between the European Union — which includes Sweden — and the GCC — has been under discussion for the last two decades but is expected to become a reality soon. “There has been great discussion about the EU-GCC Free Trade Agreement for the last 20 years and it has taken time to finalize the agreement and come to a conclusion. But after my Dec. 23 meeting in Sweden with GCC Secretary General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah, I received positive messages from within the GCC group that things would conclude shortly as about 95 percent of the agreement was finalized with only the one element of export duties to be agreed upon; however, I am hopeful that this will be resolved at the spring meeting,” she said.

Regarding her thoughts on how the GCC Unified Currency would affect the trade environment in the region, the EU, and the world, Bjorling said she felt it was a positive step to have a unified currency in the GCC.  “When European countries adopted the euro, many experts found both pros and cons and I believe when the GCC adopts its own unified currency, it will be much the same. I feel it is a positive move that will make trading with the region easier and work more in promoting trade ties,” Bjorling said.