More than a hundred of the most powerful business leaders from France and Sweden are due to meet in Stockholm’s City Hall on Tuesday, with several cooperation agreements expected to be signed.

Then on Wednesday, the two countries are set to sign a cooperation agreement on nuclear research at the offices of Alfa Laval in Lund. 

“The hope is that that we can also sign agreements on defence cooperation,” Jan Larsson, the chief executive of Business Sweden, who led the arrangement of the meeting of business leaders, told the TT newswire. 

“When you consider the geopolitical situation, it’s also important to keep in mind that France and Sweden lead the world in the defence industry. That’s why we hope to be able to sign concrete agreements on cooperation in this area.” 

In a joint article in the Dagens Nyheter and Les Echos newspapers, Macron and Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, emphasised the importance of the two countries’ defence cooperation. 

“Renewed threats on the European continent are leading Sweden and France to take concrete steps to strengthen our defence ties. Both through our  countries’ strong defence industries and by becoming NATO allies as soon as possible,” the two wrote. 

Leaders from Swedish business giants such as Ericsson, Vattenfall and Ikea, are expected to take part in the seminar, together with leaders from the French defence giants MBDA and Airbus. 

Government officials told the AFP newswire that the two countries would sign a declaration of intent on air defence and air surveillance systems, while the arms companies Saab and MBDA were expected to agree on a contract on the development of the Akeron anti-tank missile “in the next few days”. 

France is Sweden’s eighth biggest trade partner, buying some 78 billion kroner of Swedish goods in 2023, at the same time as the 160 Swedish businesses active in France invest about €6bn in the country annually.   

France is also one of the world’s leading producers of nuclear power, with 56 reactors contributing about 70 percent of the country’s power requirements, the highest share of any country. 

Sweden’s government is hoping to push through a revival in nuclear power, aiming to build a chain of new nuclear power stations over the next 20 years.