Update: Sweden seeks promotion of comprehensive ties with Iran

Swedish ambassador to Tehran said that promotion of comprehensive ties with Iran is the foremost target of her mission in the Islamic republic, Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.

Helena Sangeland told Tasnim that "I am tasked by my government to promote political dialogue and to boost mutually beneficial cooperation on trade and commerce, culture, education, research and sustainable economic development with Iran."

"Given the strong interest by Swedish companies to do business with Iran, this will be at the forefront of my mission," Sangeland said.

Sangeland added that "we are looking at various ways of facilitating movement between our countries and people-to-people contacts. This is also essential for business representatives who travel frequently between our two countries."

Asked whether Swedish businesses are interested in investments in Iran, Sangeland said that "We see more and more Swedish companies looking at either expanding their existing business or entering the Iranian market for the first time. This is true for the largest Swedish companies but also for small and medium size enterprises."

She said that the advantage of Swedish companies, in competition with those of other countries, is that they enter the Iranian market and collaborate with Iranian counterparts, boosting local competence and contributing to the Iranian economy.

Ericsson, Scania and Volvo are successful examples of Swedish companies that are doing this today from well-established positions inside Iran, she said.

Swedish enterprisers can also cooperate with Iran in ICT, health care, transport and infrastructure, and the power and energy sectors which are driven by high-tech content and environmentally sound, sustainable solutions. "In fact, for every Iranian industry sector, we see a number of Swedish companies that can make a positive contribution," she added.

Sweden not only enjoys competitive advantages in technical specifications or commercial conditions of a business proposal with Iran and internationally, but also "it has always represented quality and reliability and Swedish business partners have a well-deserved reputation of being trustworthy."

This is the reason why Swedish companies are known to engage long-term in their businesses and it is this long-term commitment that Iran needs today, she said.

She said that this year has also seen an unprecedented number of visits between Iran and Sweden at official levels.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Sweden in June and Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi visited his Sweden in September.

Besides, Sweden Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Mikael Damberg led a delegation to Iran in late 2015 as did its Energy Minister Ibrahim Baylan in April 2016.

During Zarif's visit to Stockholm in June 2016, the two sides agreed to establish regular political consultations to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues that are of interest to both our countries.

Sangeland also said that "the Swedish state secretary for foreign affairs, in other words our deputy minister for foreign affairs, Annika Soder will be visiting Tehran next week for political consultations."

"We will also have a ministerial visit to Tehran in December, including a business delegation," she added. Endit