Swedish Politics and Business related to South Asia


SIBC seminar in Lund on Indian Business Culture

Sweden-India Business Council (SIBC) organises a breakfast seminar in Lund on Wednesday 11 April 2012, 08.00–10.00. The theme for the seminar is ”Indian Business Culture”, and the speakers are Mr. Robin Sukhia, SIBC Secretary General, who will discuss the differences between Swedish and Indian business culture; and Håkan Kingstedt, Former President, Sandvik Asia Pvt. Ltd., who will share his experience from managing people and a company in India.
Register to: Info@sibc.se, no later than April 6th. Full information.


SIBC reception for departing Swedish Ambassador to India

The Sweden India Business Council (SIBC) organises a reception in honour of Sweden's departing Ambassador to India, Mr. Lars-Olof Lindgren, in Stockholm on Monday 13 February 2012, 17.00. The function is co-organized by Svensk Handel and the Swedish Trade Council. Venue: Svensk Handel, Regeringsgatan 60. Registration should be made in advance to Info@sibc.se.
Ambassador Lindgren has been Ambassador to India for 5 years. During his tenure, he has taken part in creating a number of MoU's in fields such as Health Care, Environment, Defence Equioment and more. He was also involved in the EU-India negotiations when Sweden held the EU Presidency, and been strongly engagae in promoting an increase in trade between India and Sweden. Ambassador Lindgren also started the hugely successful Nobel Memorial Week which takes place in New Delhi in October every year. During a week the Swedish Business Community is being presented in various cities all over India and more than a thousand Indian and Swedish guests take part in the mingle at the end of the week.
 


New visa rules for visit to Sri Lanka

From 1 January 2012 Sri Lanka has introduced new visa rules for all foreign nationals visiting the country. 
According to the new rules, all visitors should obtain an electronic travel authorization (ETA) prior to their entry in the country. Only citizens of The Republic of Singapore and The Republic of Maldives are excempt from this new rule on the basis of reciprocity. The electronic travel authorization is valid initially for 30 days, but can be extended with up to 6 months. The ETA costs 10 USD for citizens of the SAARC countries, and 20 USD for all other nationals. For those who have not managed to secure the ETA in advance, there is an option to do that upon arrival upon 25 USD, but the service is limited (according to the official website). Read more on the official website.


Visa on arrival to be introduced for Swedish tourists to India

According to a 22 January 2012 Times of India news story, the number of nations whose citizens are eligible for visas on arrival (VoA) in India is likely to be expanded to include another 13 countries, including Sweden. This decision will come after a review convened by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) felt security conditions need not be a hurdle to promote tourism. Other countries that could be offered VoA include Malaysia, Thailand, Spain, France, Germany, Russia, Brazil and South Africa. The Government of India Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been asked to work on details of the proposed visa regime in a manner that factors in security concerns by utilizing information-sharing agreements with Asean and the European Union while ensuring that travel to India becomes less hassle-free.
Till now, 13 countries are already covered by the VoA programme, among them Finland.

Besides increasing VoA facility to four additional airports, including Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bengaluru, the PMO has asked the civil aviation ministry to improve the facilities in the existing airports of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai so that tourists do not have to stand for hours for emigration and other clearances. The ministries of home and civil aviation have also been asked to increase counters and accept immigration fees in both Indian currency and dollars.
On tourism, the PMO has also asked the MHA and the Ministry of External Affairs to resolve the confusion around current restrictions on re-entry of tourists within a 60-day period. The visa rule is likely to be relaxed and a solution reached in the next one month.
More information in the Times of India article.


New Swedish Ambassador to Pakistan

In late 2011, Lars-Hjalmar Wide took up his post as new Swedish Ambassador to Pakistan. Mr Wide has been Marshal of the Court and Head of the Office of the Marshal of the Court at the Swedish Royal Palace. At the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, he has previously worked as Chief of Cabinet in the Office of the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, and head of the Americas Department and the Protocol Department – he has served at the embassies in Havana, Madrid, Tel Aviv and the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN in New York. During the period 2001-2005, Mr Wide was Director-General and Head of the Swedish Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP). 


First Maldivian Ambassador to Sweden

Faizal

The new Ambassador of Maldives, Dr. Farahanaz Faizal, is the country's first ambassador to Sweden. She was born in 1965 and worked in research before entering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2008 as Advisor to the Minister. She has been the High Commissioner of Maldives to the United Kingdom since March 2009. The Ambassador is concurrently accredited from the United Kingdom. She presented her accreditation letters to the Swedish King on 23 February 2011.
Farahanaz Faizal graduated from University of Keele in 1989, Staffordshire, UK, with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations (principal subject) and Computer Science (subsidiary subject), and in 1991 she completed her M. Phil in International Relations at the University of Cambridge. In 1996 H.E. Dr. Faizal obtained a PhD in Politics from the University of Hull, UK on the thesis “Security Problems of Small, Island Developing States (SIDS) with particular reference to the SIDS of the Indian Ocean”. H.E. Dr. Faizal is the first woman in the Maldives to have obtained a PhD.


Sweden world leading in supporting developing countries in 2011

Source: Center for Global Development

In its yearly Commitment to Development Index, the Center for Global Development, a US think tank based in Washington D.C., ranks Sweden as number one in terms of support policy that helps poor countries in 2011. The chart compares the world's 22 wealthiest nations and measures their support in seven fields: Aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology. This year Sweden is leading in all areas except security and technology. After Sweden follow Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.
In the motivation, it is stated that the Swedish foreign aid program is one of the best in the world in terms of quantity, weighted for country size, as well as its quality. Sweden also bears a large burden of refugees in humanitarian emergencies, provides little protection to domestic producers of agricultural products, and has the lowest greenhouse gas emission rates per capita of the CDI countries, excluding carbon absorption by forests.
Sweden is penalized for high arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments, and weak support for the creation and dissemination of technological advances. 
Read more.
Go for the full report on Sweden.


Swedish government opens honorary consulate in Bhutan

On 1 June 2011 the Swedish government approved a decision to open an Honorary Consulate of Sweden in Thimphu, Bhutan. The new consul is Ms. Phub Zam, leading Bhutanese business woman in the building sector. She is managing director for the Yarkay Group, engaged in water power projects and many other business fields. 

The honorary was handed over to Phub Zam by a counsellor with the Swedish embassy in New Delhi, Lena Weden – see photo – on 18th August 2011 (more information). The establishment is to promote the already existing friendship between Sweden and Bhutan from the 80s, Lena Weden said.

“It would facilitate Sweden officials coming in and Bhutanese wishing to visit Sweden,” she said. “It is aimed at promoting trade relations as well.”
Contact information.


Insight India 2011 seminar in Stockholm

TT Services, an outsource partner company of the Embassy of India in Stockholm, in charge of handling Swedish visa applications for India, organizes a seminar entitled ”INSIGHT INDIA 2011” on Wednesday 26 October 2011, 15.00–17.00. The seminar, organized in collaboration with the Embassy of India, will focus on The New India, entrepreneurship, bureaucracy, and youth in the World’s fastest growing democracy. Speakers include Anna Kinberg Batra and Sunit Mehrotra. Indian Ambassador H.E. Ashok Sajjanhar will give some closing remarks.

The seminar will be moderated by Gautam Bhattacharyya and Arvind Malhotra.
More information. 


Swedish development cooperation praised in OECD mid-term review

DACSweden is making significant progress in improving and streamlining development cooperation. This is the view of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee(DAC), which has conducted a mid-term review of Swedish development assistance. In the report, published on 25 July 2011, DAC states that Sweden, despite challenges resulting from ongoing reforms within the Swedish aid administration, has made significant progress in handling and implementing the recommendations of DAC's comprehensive aid review in 2009. A clearer strategic orientation, better communication and a more strategic approach to working with multilateral development organisations are some of the improvements highlighted in the mid-term review. More information.

Read the DAC mid-term review document (as a pdf-file).

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