Swedish Businesses Visit Indonesia, Look for Investing Opportunities
Jakarta. Seven Swedish companies are on a visit to Indonesia this week looking for investment opportunities in the archipelago.
“We are very happy to welcome this business delegation to Indonesia, one of the most exciting markets in the Asia-Pacific region,” Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia Johanna Brismar Skoog said in a statement on Monday.
The seven companies, which cover the finance, retail, logistics, transportation and communication industries, are Nordea, Golden Stena Weco, Axis Communications, Duni, Handelsbanken, Kapsch TraffiCom, and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken.
The delegates will visit Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjaha Purnama, city-owned property developer Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro), the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), state-controlled lender Bank Negara Indonesia and the Trade Ministry.
The delegates will also be listening to the experiences of Swedish companies already operating in Indonesia, such as automaker Volvo and parking equipment producer Cale.
Housewares retailer Ikea, whose branding is identifiably Swedish but whose corporate parentage actually traces back to a complex corporate tax-optimization scheme straddling the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, will also participate.
Sweden’s government plans to increase investment in Indonesia in an effort to revive its exports and capture growth outside of Europe.
“Big investments in education are an important part of our budget, as well as investments in expanding exports,” Sweden's Enterprise and Innovation Minister Mikael Damberg said in an interview on Friday. “Our analysis is that if we want more companies to grow, our export market is a little bit too Europe-heavy. For Sweden, with more than 70 percent of exports going to Europe, we are dependent on the European economy to do well.”
Sweden’s new Social Democratic government has vowed to achieve the lowest unemployment levels in the European Union by 2020, is looking at “big” investments in education and infrastructure despite a paucity of funds.
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