Tal
Swedish CleanTech-seminarium i Tokyo, Japan 18 april 2008
Ewa Björling, Handelsminister

Tal av Ewa Björling på Swedish CleanTech-seminariet i Japan (engelska)

Distinguished Guests and Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to attend this occasion, the Swedish CleanTech seminar on environmental technology.

The Swedish Government has recently launched a major initiative to support international co-operation between enterprises and institutions involved in the research and development of environmental technology.

This initiative was born out of our concerns about the environment and climate change. But it was also born out of our strong belief that this is a field where huge business opportunities are waiting to be seized.

Sweden has been a global leader in environmental technology for fifty years, but we have mainly used our expertise to improve our own society.

Now, when the world is experiencing a new era of industrialisation, and many emerging economies are suffering from a rapidly deteriorating environment, we believe that our knowledge, products and concepts could be of great benefit outside our borders.

One of our ambitions is to strengthen our co-operation with other global leaders in the field of environmental technology. This is one of the main reasons for my visit to Japan, and also the underlying theme of today's seminar. Japan has been at the forefront of environmental technology for many decades. It is therefore my conviction that Sweden and Japan have a great deal to gain if we coordinate our efforts and reinforce our co-operation in this field. Not only would it be beneficial for the research and development of new or improved products and concepts, but it would also enhance our opportunities to reach the global market.

Swedish-Japanese co-operation is strong and its potential is even stronger. Our industrial ties go back more than 150 years. Many big Swedish engineering companies - such as Sandvik, Atlas Copco, SKF, Alfa Laval, Ericsson, Tetra Pak and Volvo - have a long history in the Japanese market. Several of them also have production facilities in Japan.

Since the 1960s, our co-operation has been particularly strong in the automotive industry and in electronics. And since the 1990s, we have also enjoyed highly successful co-operation in the ICT sector and pharmaceuticals.

The establishment in 2001 of Swedish-Japanese joint venture, Sony-Ericsson, might be the most striking example of what can be achieved when Sweden and Japan combine ambitions, expert skills and capital. In only a few years, Sony-Ericsson went from a start-up to the fourth largest mobile handset producer in the world. It is, without doubt, one of the most successful international joint ventures the world has ever seen.

More recently, intensive Swedish-Japanese co-operation has emerged in the field of biotechnology. During the last few years, several major Japanese companies have joined forces with Swedish companies and institutions to develop tomorrow's pharmaceutical products.

In my view, environmental technology might very well be the "next big thing" in the successful history of Swedish-Japanese industrial partnerships.

Yesterday, here in Tokyo, the Swedish Prime Minister addressed the opening of a Swedish-Japanese symposium on "Sustainable Urban Development". The purpose of the symposium was to discuss a number of vital environmental issues from a conceptual and future-oriented perspective.

Today's seminar will focus on the technologies and concepts that are already in place. We will therefore use this opportunity to present to you some of the solutions that have been developed in Sweden and that have helped us to improve our own environment. Hopefully, the presentations will stimulate discussion and result in continued dialogue and co-operation.

The first presentation concerns our new and highly interesting initiative called "SymbioCity", which is a platform for technologies and methods for the improvement of modern cities. Sweden's capital city, Stockholm, was once both dirty and polluted, but is today regarded as one of the cleanest capitals in the world. I hope that you will find it interesting to hear more about how this transformation was achieved.

Before handing over to the next speaker, I would like to share with you a happy piece of news regarding Swedish-Japanese co-operation in the field of environmental protection.

One of the companies in the Swedish business delegation, Tricorona, is involved in the business of emissions trading and is a leading player in the new climate economy that evolved as a result of the Kyoto Protocol.

A few weeks ago, Tricorona signed an important contract with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japanese Ministry of the Environment regarding the procurement of emissions reductions.

I would like to congratulate you on this agreement, which reflects the potential and opportunities for even closer co-operation between our countries.

I hope that Tricorona's contract will serve as a source of inspiration for the enhancement of business relations between Sweden and Japan in the field of environmental technology and protection.

Thank you!