Keynote speech: Iraq conference, Stockholm, 8 October 2012
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Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to welcome you all to the opening of the Swedish-Iraqi Business and Investment Conference 2012. After five visits to Iraq, it is a special pleasure for me to welcome the Iraqi delegates to this conference. We have discussed plans for this event for some time and on various occasions, including during my most recent visits to Iraq, and it is now gratifying to be here in Sweden together.
With us today are ministers from the Iraqi Government, other top-level representatives from the Iraqi administration and from a large number of Iraqi companies.
We also have a large presence of your Swedish counterparts - from government and industry - representing several of our key export and trade sectors.
The Swedish-Iraqi Business and Investment Conference 2012 is based on both countries' genuine interest in long-term cooperation in a vast range of areas. I hope that this conference will inspire Iraqi and Swedish companies to engage in new forms of cooperation and to further develop existing projects, for the benefit of our two countries.
Since my first visit to Iraq as a minister five years ago, I have been working hard to enhance trade between our two countries and have made several visits to different regions of Iraq to help boost this potential and development.
This conference acknowledges the achievements of the past few years and will hopefully help lay the foundation for future cooperation and success. There is plenty of scope to further increase trade between our two countries, and I will continue to work hard for this. The links between Iraq and Sweden are already many and strong, not least thanks to the large group of Swedes of Iraqi background who can help us in this endeavour. Around 1.5% of Sweden's population are of Iraqi origin and can play a very special role in enhancing ties between Sweden and Iraq.
Historically, Iraq has been one of our largest markets in the Middle East, at times accounting for one third of our total exports to the region. I hope we can have this as a target for future endeavours.
We are now seeing a substantial increase in our trade again, with very positive developments in 2012 - an increase of 80% in the first six months of this year. But I believe there is considerable scope to further strengthen Sweden's business and trade relations with Iraq. Our relations are made even stronger by the large Swedish-Iraqi community both in Sweden and in Iraq.
This gives us, Iraq and Sweden, a very special relationship, as neighbours and friends, with important roles to play and challenges to address, in deepening ties and dialogue between our governments and people. Politicians have a vital role to play in this regard, and I assume this challenge both when I travel within Sweden and when I go abroad.
Free trade is a cornerstone of Swedish foreign and trade policy. It is also the basis of our domestic economic policy. Swedish prosperity is built on international trade and the ability of our companies to compete in global markets. Over the past 150 years, Sweden's development, from poverty to a prosperous welfare state, is the history of free trade. Today, globalisation is a fact of life. Sweden is becoming increasingly dependent on international trade. Export trade now accounts for around 50 per cent of our GDP.
Sweden's prosperity, and the roots of our democracy, is very much related to our industry and our exports, starting from our mines and forests, reaching global markets through transport based on our rivers, railways and ports. Engineering skills and innovation turned raw materials into attractive goods through industries and manufacturing.
We are happy to share the experiences and the benefits of this development in our trade with you.
Iraq faces two challenges: building peace and rebuilding its infrastructure. These two challenges are closely linked. And meeting them simultaneously is key to democracy and prosperity in Iraq.
A modern society can only prosper in peace if a majority of the population has access to modern basic infrastructure, such as up-to-date systems for food processing, health care, and environmentally sustainable solutions for construction, transport, energy generation, water purification, sewage treatment, etc.
Swedish suppliers offer innovative and environmentally sustainable technology for these sectors.
Taking into account life-cycle costs and the environmental aspects of an investment, their solutions are strongly competitive.
Sweden supports Iraq's peace process on a political level, as well as by promoting the exchange of ideas, know-how, contacts and trade between our two countries. Since 2006, we have carried out activities in fields such as energy, health care, water purification and sewage treatment in close cooperation with the Iraqi Government. We hope to continue our joint efforts to bring our nations closer together through increased trade and know-how exchange.
We would like to see Iraq continue to consolidate democracy and become a prosperous country where respect for human rights and democracy are high on the agenda.
My hope is that through our companies and relations with Iraq, Sweden can also contribute to this development, and a future in which all Iraqi citizens can contribute constructively and enjoy the fruits of peace and stability.
The reconstruction of Iraq continues and I am happy to note that several important Swedish companies have entered the Iraqi market. I am confident that as the situation stabilises and security improves, even more companies will start trading with Iraq, investing in Iraq and developing ties with Iraq in other ways. Already, over the visits I have made to Iraq, I have seen progress and development in security, in infrastructure, in banking and in many other sectors. I hope that this conference will offer Iraqi and Swedish actors a forum to explore opportunities to further strengthen business and personal ties.
During my visits to Iraq, I have seen a great number of important and impressive developments take place. I have been to Baghdad, Erbil and Basra, all important centres of economic activity that are also well represented here today by our distinguished guests from Iraq. About a year ago, I visited Basra, including the port in Basra and the Rumaila oil field. I will never forget the rapidly developing infrastructure I saw there. Also striking are the impressions I have gained over repeated visits to Erbil of a developing banking sector (on my first visit, there were no ATMs to be found) and of impressive investments and infrastructure development moving forward from year to year. Each time I have visited Iraq, I have seen new signs of the Iraqi economy growing stronger.
Today, Iraq is a country with healthy potential and unique opportunities that are expected to steadily increase as security improves further and as economic growth gathers momentum.
Our Embassy in Baghdad was reopened in 2009 and the Swedish Trade Office during my visit in October 2011. We also have an Embassy section office and Swedish Trade Office in Erbil, opened earlier this year. This presence on the ground is a clear sign of the importance we attach to being part of the development in Iraq. I am proud that my Government has decided to take these important steps to enhance cooperation with Iraq in a wide range of spheres.
During my visits, I have also had the pleasure and honour of seeing and inaugurating service facilities belonging to Volvo and Scania, both important Swedish companies, in Baghdad and Basra, as well as the Swedish Transport Academy in Erbil - founded in cooperation between Scania, Sida (the Swedish development agency), local authorities and UN agencies. Much of Iraq's electrical grid has been built and serviced by ABB, over many years. I hope that the examples set by these very different businesses will serve to inspire even more companies, large and small, to explore their opportunities.
From Swedish industry, we see well-known, important global brands here today, but also smaller and medium-sized businesses.
This mix reflects a wide spectrum of opportunities and the interest of Swedish companies in Iraq that can contribute in many and varied ways to Iraqi development. Combined with a wide and varied spectrum of initiatives, this contributes to building even more, wider and stronger bridges between Sweden and Iraq.
I am certain that we will see new and exciting business opportunities emerge for all of you participating in this conference. We will continue to work together to enhance trade and contacts between Iraq and Sweden.
I wish you all the very best of luck and, once again, a very warm welcome to you all.
Thank you!
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