Led by its Ambassador Jan Thesleff, six major companies exhibited their products and services at their national pavilion — the “only country pavilion” at the GEF.

The GCC environment sector is complex and fast-paced, covering crucial development areas for the next generation in the Arab world.

This year has seen a steep increase in activity within the sector with each of the six member states defining plans in 2011 to develop projects to reduce the environmental impact of their industrial development.

“Sweden has been the pioneer in taking measures to protect the environment and its companies have become specialists in clean and renewable energy, waste management, water and waste water, and sustainable development,” the ambassador said.

Specialized in designing the green future was Norconsult, a multidisciplinary engineering and design consultancy, providing services worldwide.

“Its expertise lies in designing the green building, the green city, and building solar houses that are low in energy and high in comfort,” said Marcus Rydbo, head of architecture department at Gothenburg-based Norconsult.

Providing an invisible solution for an environmentally sustainable waste handling was Envac — automated waste collection.

“Waste collection goes underground and opens a whole new world of opportunities, although in many cities of the world, waste is still handled just as it was 100 years ago,” said Michael Merriman, director marketing and sales at Dubai-based Envac Middle East.

For instance, with limited space demanding a compact waste solution, Korea shows how to deal with large quantities of waste in a very small area. In Yongin City in Korea, the waste is air-transported directly into the incineration plant.

Quality, safety and environmental care are central to the genetic make-up of Volvo Construction Equipment, said Hassan Osman, sales manager of Alrehab Equipment & Machinery, sole agent in the Kingdom for Volvo Construction Equipment.

As part of ABB Group, ABB Saudi Arabia acts actively to serve the local customers with a full range of world-class power and automation technology, products and services.

“Being integrated in the local market makes it possible to provide the correct products and services which suit any special needs or requirements,” said Khizar Junaid Usmani, country quality manager at ABB Saudi Arabia.

In order to assure that, ABB is represented in Saudi Arabia through several companies covering ABB’s wide range of activities, like manufacturing, contracting, servicing and trading.

ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact.