Innovation

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven visited Iran on 11–12 February at the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani. A business delegation led by Minister for EU Affairs and Trade Ann Linde accompanied Mr Löfven on the trip. The delegation included Business Sweden and a number of other government agencies. Anders Ferbe, Chairman of IF Metall (metalworkers union), also took part.

Sigbritt Karlsson, President of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of the Volvo Group, are new members of the National Innovation Council. Both will take part in the Council’s first meeting of 2017, on 13 February.

On the afternoon of 31 January, Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg held roundtable discussions focusing on innovation and cooperation for a sustainable future at the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Among the participants were representatives of German and Swedish businesses, institutions and government agencies.

Stockholm, 31 January 2017. Check against delivery.

Sweden and Germany are now joining forces in a new innovation partnership between the two countries. This is a unique agreement on cooperation to promote innovative societal solutions, new export products and stronger competitiveness. The agreement will be concluded in connection with the visit of Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel to Sweden on Tuesday 31 January.

Space is the focus of the National Innovation Council meeting on 24 November 2016. Minister Helene Hellmark Knutsson provides an update on the Government’s work in the area of space. Space activities can and should contribute to a functioning society. They should also be a tool for development and innovation, leading to growth. These were the proposals of the Space Inquiry’s report, which was presented to Minister for Higher Education and Research Helene Hellmark Knutsson in September 2015.

A circular bio-based economy was on the agenda of the National Innovation Council when it met on 1 September 2016. The Government is working on several processes linked to this area. Karl-Henrik Sundström, CEO and Managing Director of Stora Enso, is a member of the Council and spoke at the meeting about how a circular bio-based economy affects Sweden's development and competitiveness.

The Government's efforts to strengthen Sweden's life sciences and the significance of policy innovations in developing the reception and introduction system for newly arrived immigrants were two of the topics discussed when the National Innovation Council held its first meeting of the year on Thursday 25 February.

At the National Innovation Council meeting on 24 November, the Government presented the focus of the new digital strategy, which is intended to benefit citizens and businesses, and support the business sector and social development.

The Government today presented the research policy bill ‘Collaborating for knowledge – for society’s challenges and strengthened competitiveness’ to the Riksdag. The bill presents the Government’s view on the direction of research policy with a ten-year perspective, focusing in particular on measures in 2017–2020. Important cornerstones of the bill include increased basic appropriations to higher education institutions, initiatives in research linked to global societal challenges and increased resources to strengthen Sweden’s innovative capacity.

On Monday 12 September, the Government welcomed a Chinese business delegation consisting of some thirty corporate leaders and some twenty Swedish companies to Rosenbad for talks on investment opportunities in Sweden. Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg hosted the meeting, along with Business Sweden and the Sweden China Trade Council. The aim of the meeting was to highlight the qualities that make Sweden unique as an investment country, and to show the Government’s engagement in business relations with China.

The Government is launching five innovation partnership programmes to help meet a range of the societal challenges that Sweden is facing. These programmes involve new ways of travelling, residing, doing business, living, communicating, and using and preserving the world’s resources and ecosystems. Partnership between public actors, business and academia creates new, innovative solutions that strengthen competitiveness, contribute to sustainable development and create more jobs.

Sweden’s prosperity is built on innovative and successful export companies that time and again have managed to renew and reorganise production and products to keep pace with changing markets. The Government’s strategy for new industrialisation is an important stage of the effort to benefit from the window of opportunity for new industrialisation that is now open to Sweden.

Today, June 30, Sweden rounds off its chairmanship of EUREKA, an international innovation network. Based on the values of transparency, openness, simplification and efficiency, the Swedish Chairmanship worked to adapt and develop EUREKA on the basis of current global conditions. Sweden will now hand over the chairmanship to Spain.

On the afternoon of 12 May, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet left Sweden following a three-day State Visit. The President was in Sweden at the invitation of HM the King. This was the first State Visit by a Chilean president to Sweden. Several of the Government ministers took part in the programme. The purpose of the visit was to broaden and deepen bilateral relations between Chile and Sweden.

On 10 May, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet began her State Visit to Sweden. The President is visiting Sweden at the invitation of HM the King. The Visit will last from 10 to 12 May and is the first incoming State Visit from Chile to Sweden.

The Government is now launching action to inject new energy into road safety efforts, for all modes of transport. On 15 March 2016, Minister for Infrastructure Anna Johansson hosted a meeting of industry and government agency representatives to build an understanding of the challenges in the area and to begin discussing initiatives and solutions to meet these challenges.

On Thursday 11 February 2016, the Ministry of Justice, the Swedish Bar Association and the Swedish Courts held a conference on the Nordic–Baltic regional division of the European Unified Patent Court. Work is in progress to prepare and establish the regional division in Stockholm.

Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg and Minister for Higher Education and Research Helene Hellmark Knutsson presented a national programme for protein research, method development and biologics production.