The first business seminar on the investment climate and business opportunities in Central Asia was held in Stockholm, the capital of the Kingdom of Sweden, DKNews.kz reports.
The event was attended by Chairman of the Sweden–Central Asia Friendship Group of the Riksdag (Parliament) of Sweden Bjorn Soder, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Sweden Nodir Ganiev, Ambassador of Sweden to Kazakhstan Ewa Polano, Ambassador of Sweden to Uzbekistan Tomas Danestad, Chairman of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for Eurasia Heinz Sjogren, representatives of ministries and agencies of Sweden, as well as large Swedish companies such as: “Scania AB”, “Epiroc AB”, “Ericsson AB”, “ABB AB”, “KraftPowercon AB”, “AstraZeneca AB” and others.
Bjorn Soder speaking at the event, noted the strategic importance of enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors of the two regions. He drew attention to the huge potential of the Central Asian market for strengthening trade and economic relations with Sweden, as well as limitless prospects for expanding investment partnership.
Representatives of Kazakhstan highlighted the main directions of trade, economic, transport and investment cooperation between Kazakhstan and Sweden, as well as legislative measures adopted by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan to support foreign investors and domestic producers.
The Embassy of Kazakhstan also stressed the importance of economic diplomacy, which plays an important role in expanding bilateral relations.
Swedish Ambassadors to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Ewa Polano and Tomas Danestad also shared their views on the dynamic development of Central Asia, and noted Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as the “core-countries” of the region. Due to the growing competition in the region, the Swedish Ambassadors called on the Swedish business community to invest in Central Asia, as well as expand its presence in the region.
In their turn, the representative of “Scania AB”, Fredrik Wijkander, informed the participants of the seminar about the experience of “Scania AB” in the development of mechanical engineering in Kazakhstan. Thus, the Swedish company has been operating in the Kazakhstan market since 2007. In 2023, the company launched Scania trucks for the first time on the basis of the Kazakh enterprise “QazTechna”, Saran, Karaganda region. In 2024, the headquarters of “Scania AB” decided to allocate “Scania Central Asia” as an independent business unit in the region with its head office in Almaty.
In addition, despite the high competition from Chinese automakers, Fredrik Wijkander assured that the Swedish company will continue to strengthen its presence in the region and expand its product line. He also added that the company plans not only to assemble trucks and buses, but also to establish its local production.
In the second part of the event, participants took part in a plenary session dedicated to business opportunities in Central Asia.
Thus, the participants of the business seminar were able not only to get up-to-date information, but also to ask questions of interest to them for a deeper understanding of the investment climate and existing business opportunities.
