Aiding growth

Sweden and the UAE enjoy an excellent relationship, says Bruno S. Beijer, Swedish Ambassador to the UAE. Business relations are first-rate,but Sweden sees the UAE as more thanjust an important trading partner.

"The role of the UAE can be looked at in two ways," says Ambassador Beijer. "Oneas a trading partner where the UAE is usually our second-largest trading partner in the Middle East, and also as a vital hub for Swedish companies in the region in a wider sense, as a lot of business for Sweden in the Middle East comes from Swedish companies in the UAE.

"If you add these, you can understand very well why we cherish our business relations with the UAE. This is also the reason why the Swedish Trade Council chose to establish a regional office here, one that rapidly became one of the council's largest in the world."

The ambassador says that the warm reception given to high-level Swedish visitors to the UAE and the substance of their discussions with their UAE counterparts and dignitaries reveals the depth of the friendship between the two countries. Visits have been recurrent with Sweden's Speaker of Parliament, Per Westerberg, meeting the Speaker of the UAE Federal National Council, Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Gurair, earlier this year, as well as Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt meeting his counterpart, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Major items traded between the two nations are pharmaceuticals, paper and board, iron and steel, power-generating machinery, telecommunications equipment, and lorries and buses, says Beijer, adding that two-way trade in 2009 was valued at around Dh1.8 billion.

Enhancing trade relations

"Sweden's annual exports to the UAE amount to between Dh1.5 billion and Dh2.5 billion," he says. "Last year, exports were valued at Dh1.7 billion and imports from the UAE were Dh60 million."

You will find Swedes working in the UAE, as there are many Swedish companies based here, says Beijer, but they are not limited to these firms. "You can find Swedes in many walks of life in the UAE, not just representing Swedish companies. There are many in the international corporate world, but also a host of lawyers, doctors, dentists, restaurateurs, hoteliers, pilots, air crew, architects, and those working with handicapped children and the elderly in need of care," says the ambassador.

"It's difficult to put an exact figure [on the number of Swedish expatriates here], but I guess there are around 3,000 in the country. This isn't a very large community compared to some other countries but it's larger than the Swedish community in China, for instance."

It is estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 Swedish tourists visited the UAE last year, and the number of UAE tourists visiting Sweden is rising slowly, says Beijer. "I would love to see more UAE tourists visit Sweden and believe we are seeing this happen slowly," he says. "Sweden provides a warm welcome to all UAE visitors, who can experience not only a friendly atmosphere, but also a country where just about everyone speaks English."

Over the years Sweden has also attracted students from the UAE. "We have had a tradition for quite some time of UAE students studying medicine in Gothenburg," says Beijer.

The ambassador believes nuclear energyand environmental studies could become of interest to more UAE students in the future. Up until now, tertiary education in Sweden was free for all students. However, universities will soon begin charging foreign students for tuition fees, says Beijer.

"This will allow the universities to tailor-make education for groups of foreign students in a way that was not possible previously, and it will hopefully bring more foreign students to Sweden," he explains, advising those interested in finding out more about education to visit http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Education/.

Developing ties

Sweden is working to establish closer ties with the UAE, particularly in the environmental area and in projects concerning academia and business for women.

"I do hope that we shortly will be able to announce a very exciting project in this [ecological] field," Beijer says. "I also place a lot of hope on the network of Women Academics and Business persons that is about to be established between Sweden, the UAE and other countries in the region."

On the lighter side

Ambassador Bruno S. Beijer has lived in the UAE with his wife Lena and son Martin for nearly five years. After four decades of diplomatic service, the ambassador is planning to retire this year, but intends to visit the UAE in the future.

The ambassador was born in Shanghai, China, as his father was stationed there while working for the Swedish Match Company.

They were then posted to Burma, and while the ambassador went to school in Sweden for many of those years, Rangoon was home to him. Having spent the past 40 years abroad at Swedish Embassies and the Ministryfor Foreign Affairs, the ambassadoris ready to return to his native country.

"The centre of my world map is ina small fishing village in the very south of Sweden, and this is where we will retire," he says.

In addition to his diplomatic work, he is proud to have seen his two children grow up, and become the wonderful persons that they are.