K. Frangogiannis: Creation of new bilateral economic ties with Sweden
During his two-day working visit to Sweden, the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy, Kostas Frangogiannis, attended the inauguration of the Swedish-Greek Chamber of Commerce’s branch in Stockholm the day before yesterday and made a series of contacts with political and economic officials in Sweden with a view to expanding economic relations between the two countries. The Greek Ambassador to Sweden, Andreas Fryganas, and all his staff from the Greek Embassy in Stockholm, were also present.
Regarding the new branch of the Swedish-Greek Chamber of Commerce, Frangogiannis said in his greeting that “it was created by the need for an institution, which will be a reference point for Greek businessmen who want to develop trade relations with Sweden, or be active in this country”.
He estimated that “with a dynamic presence in Greece, the branch will act as a springboard for new bilateral, not least, economic ties”. As a symbolic gesture, the minister tied the ribbon with the colors of the two countries at the inauguration ceremony.
The inauguration was also attended by the chair of the Swedish-Greek chamber, Ourania Patsiopoulou, and the chair of the branch, Marcus Pettersson, who thanked the participants.
as well as Ambassador Charlotte Sammelin, Head of Department for International Trade and EU Single Market and former Swedish Ambassador to Greece.
The presentation of the Swedish-Greek Chamber during the inauguration was attended by the Mayor of Östersund, Effie Kourlos, Deputy Chairman of Solna City Council Georgios Kontorinis, the former Member of Parliament, Sotiris Dellias, the well-known businessmen and women Thomas Georgiades, from Stenhus Fastigheter i Norden AB, Anastasia Georgiadou from Alminia AB, the siblings Loizos and Korina Papadopoulos, from Fontana Food AB, Panos Papadopoulos, the well-known journalist and author Alexandra Paschalidou, the director of the Greek Tourist Office in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Pavlos Mourmas, the chairman of the Greek Associations and Societies Federation in Sweden, Moses Nikolaides and the chairman of the culture house in Stockholm, Apostolos Papakostas.
All participants thanked Nina Hornewall, Apollo’s Commercial Director, for holding the event in their office.
During the discussions, which took place in a good atmosphere among the guests, the new initiative to create a pillar for communication and connection between the two countries and their business life was welcomed.
Meeting with the Minister for Foreign Trade
An overview of the bilateral trade relations between the two countries and the prospects for their promotion was made during the meeting that Frangogiannis had with the Minister for Foreign Trade and responsible for Nordic affairs, Anna Hallberg. At the same time, investment opportunities in Greece, regarding energy, innovation and technology, as well as the geopolitical situation and the effects on Europe’s self-sufficiency in energy, were evaluated, while the new role Greece acquires as an energy-centre due to the FSRU Floating Storage and Regasification Unit in Alexandroupolis was discussed. During his two-day visit, the Deputy Foreign Minister also had the opportunity to visit the offices of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Business Sweden and Northvolt, as well as the municipality of Solna, which is a model for its growth.
Visit to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprises
At the offices of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprises, Frangogiannis met its CEO, Jan-Olof Jacke. The Confederation of Swedish Enterprises is the largest and most important business association in Sweden. It represents 49 organizations and 60,000 companies with more than 1.6 million employees. The topic of the meeting was to examine the opportunities for business cooperation that exist in areas of common interest, the promotion of Greece as an investment destination for the members of the union, and the examination of cooperation with the competent Greek authorities.
Visit to Business Sweden’s office
At the offices of Business Sweden, the Deputy Foreign Minister met its Deputy CEO, Nina Lindberg, who is responsible for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Business Sweden is jointly owned by the Swedish state and the Swedish business community, with the task of helping to both attract and implement foreign direct investments and to help Swedish companies with furthermore extrovert direction. The topic of discussions with Lindberg was the exploration of the possibility of using the best practices, as well as the cooperation with Enterprise Greece (the official body of the Greek state to promote investment in Greece, under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
Visit to Northvolt’s office
At the company’s headquarters in Stockholm, the directors of Northvolt presented one of the largest projects in order to accelerate the green transition in Sweden to the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister. Northvolt is a manufacturer of high-performance lithium-ion battery components, which recently completed the construction of a so-called gigabyte factory in northern Sweden (Skellefteå), that, in its final form, is expected to cover an area of 500,000 square meters and employ over 3,000 people and 300 robots, with exclusively green energy. Northvolt is already planning to build another giga factory in Gothenburg in cooperation with Volvo, at the same time as it has signed a cooperation agreement with the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany for a third giga factory there. During the meeting, Northvolt’s executives presented the business model and the company’s future prospects. Frangogiannis presented the investment opportunities for major innovation projects in Greece, while giving a thorough presentation of the motivations for foreign direct investment, developed by the Greek government for the areas that reduce the use of lignite. A special discussion was held on the project “Astypalea Smart and Sustainable Island” and on the project “GR-eco Islands”.
Visit to Solna municipality
The city’s mayor, Pehr Granfalk, had the opportunity to present Solna municipality’s investments and business performance to Frangogiannis, at his last meeting before returning to Athens. Solna municipality serves as a role model due to its growth over the past twenty years, from being a marginalized municipality to a large city in the Stockholm area with huge businesses and investments, attracting large companies such as Scandinavian Airlines, Skanska, NextJet, Vattenfall, Telia, ICA etc. but also large organizations such as Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
