High-tech machines take major share of Swedish exports to KSA

Sweden is committed to strengthen bilateral co-operation with Saudi Arabia, said Swedish Ambassador to the Kingdom Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt, here yesterday. The diplomat stressed upon the need to maintain the momentum of regular dialogue to strengthen ties further.
He stressed the need that over the years the two countries’ bilateral relations have grown from strength to strength, especially in the trade sector and Saudi Arabia is Sweden’s biggest trading partner in the region.
Speaking to Arab News, the Swedish Ambassador said that the trade balance is heavily in favor of Saudi Arabia. Referring to the total value of two way trade, he said it is Euro100 million, making Sweden one of Saudi Arabia’s key economic partners in Europe.
Evaluating bilateral relations on political, commercial and cultural fronts, he said, “bilateral relations are very strong in all fields including health and education and we are very close in the area of trade and investment.”
When asked that there have been some talks about possible Saudi investment in some sectors in Sweden, Juhlin-Dannfelt said, "We are very open economy." He added that we have a much liberalized market and level playing grounds for our trading partners. We look forward to have investments in key sectors. In fact we see a lot of possible co-operation between the two countries in the industrial sector.
Commenting on exports from Saudi Arabia to that Scandinavian country, he maintained that it mainly consists of crude oil and petrochemicals. Sweden is also working with Saudi Aramco in oil exploration sector.
Commenting on its role in the Middle East affairs, he said Sweden is closely following developments, be it Israel-Palestine conflict, Iran, Syria and Yemen and look forward for the restoration of peace, stability and security in the region.
The Swedish ambassador maintained that Sweden is following developments in Palestine since the inception of problem in 1947-48. Stockholm is with the majority of the International community. Israel should work out a strategy to find a peaceful solution of the conflict.
"Sweden also welcomes the peace initiative taken by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah as it believes that Palestine has every right to have a separate state."
On Yemen issue, Sweden is with GCC line and as far as Syria is concerned, the violence must end as UN has maintained time and again and Bashar Assad must understand peace is the only solution, he said. We also condemn killings of people in Syria, he added.
Commenting on Swedish delegation visiting the Kingdom in near future, he said that the two countries have very active exchange of delegation. Three Swedish delegations on education, health, environment, telecom and oil and natural gas will visit the Kingdom in September, 2013. We are also planning for Swedish exhibition here.
He maintained that Sweden practice complete freedom of religion and do not differentiate between religions. "Everybody has right to practice religion in their own way in Sweden," he said.
He said that Stockholm has contributed to the development of the Kingdom through considerable exports of services and know-how. We are also extending support in health and education sector as engineers, doctors, dentists and other health staffs are working in the Kingdom.
At the same time we also welcome Saudi citizen to come to Sweden to see the beauty of Scandinavia. We also welcome them to come to Sweden for cultural and educational program as education system there by its own standards will be a different but wonderful experience.
The most significant export products are high-tech equipment’s such as telecom products, machineries, medical products, pharmaceuticals, automotive, food, fuels, chemical and engineering products, clothing, and furniture.
Sweden is also an important supplier of semi-manufactured products and raw materials such as iron ore, wood and paper. Infrastructure projects are one area where Swedish companies play a role in the Kingdom, including water and electricity, transportation and telecom.