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Swedish government approves controversial iron ore mine in Swedish Lapland

The Swedish government has given the green light for British mining company Beowulf Mining to move forward with their plan to open a new iron ore mine in Kallak, northern Sweden.

Swedish government approves controversial iron ore mine in Swedish Lapland
The area where the Gallók/Kallak mine is planned. Photo: TT

Sweden’s business minister, Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, said the decision to approve the next stage of the mining company’s plans was “historic”.

The approval does not necessarily mean that a mine will be built, but that the company can move forward with their plans, and will be permitted to mine in the area.

Thorwaldsson said the biggest challenge would be the environmental assessment by Mark och miljödomstolen, the court in that rules on issues concerning land rights and the environment, but he said he was convinced a mine would eventually be built.

The mine is one of Sweden’s most controversial industrial projects, and has been an issue for the government since 2017.

The resistance comes mainly from the Sami, Sweden’s only indigenous people, and from environmental campaigners, although the UN has also been critical of the project.

“Sweden has today confirmed its shortsighted, racist, colonial and nature-hostile approach,” the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, said on Twitter.

“Sweden pretends to be a leader for environment and human rights, but at home they violate indigenous rights and continue waging a war on nature. The world will remember this.”

Campaigner Greta Thunberg visiting the area around Jokkmokk in February. Photo: TT

In coming to its decision, the government has weighed two national interests against one another, reindeer herding and mining, but it has decided that mining should take priority. 

Thorwaldsson said that the mining industry was important for social development in Sweden, and for jobs and economic growth in particular. 

The population in Norrbotten, he noted, had decreased by 23 percent between 1991 and 2016, and that Jokkmokk municipality had said that the mine would help it create jobs and fund its welfare service. In addition, he said, the mine was not located in a national park or nature reserve.

He suggested that the Sami study the “long-term and unique” demands embodied into the planning process, with twelve considerations in place to do as little harm as possible to the local Sami reindeer herding districts or Sameby.

“We’ve done that to make certain that we keep any negative effect on reindeer herding as small as possible,” he said.

The company plans to put up fences and protective walls to prevent accidents and to build secure crossings for the reindeers.

It will also carry out an annual assessment of the consequences for reindeer herding, and will consult with Sami reindeer districts about what needs to be done. 

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BUSINESS

India among top investment destinations for Swedish companies

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and India are the top investment destinations for Swedish companies, meaning that businesses are planning on increasing their investments in these markets over the next 12 months.

India among top investment destinations for Swedish companies

“The stars are aligned for India. They have got a lot of internal investment programmes started, have acquired internal stability and managed to navigate the geopolitical situation in such a way that no one has any doubts any longer,” said Business Sweden CEO Jan Larsson.

Swedish businesses are in general less optimistic than last year about the global business scene, due to a struggling European economy and escalating trade wars between the US and China, according to a new Global Business Climate Survey 2024 by Business Sweden.

Despite this, many of the 24 countries in the report maintained a generally positive outlook, with scores over 3 on a 5-point scale, where 1 equals very poor and 5 very good. 

Overall, just six percent of respondents perceived the business climate as very good, 31 percent as good, 45 percent as neutral, 15 percent as poor and 2 percent as very poor.

There are also some markets where sentiment has improved slightly since last year: Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, the UK and Spain. 

At the other end of the scale, interest in investing in giant markets such as China and Germany appears to be on the wane, along with Taiwan and Mexico.

“Doing business in Germany comes with a lot of administrative work compared to Sweden, which is time consuming and costly,” EWAB Engineering GmbH managing director Fredrik Almcrantz said in the report. “Digitalisation doesn’t replace paperwork related to compliance with rules and regulations, it is just an added layer on top of traditional routines.”

Almost a third (65 percent) of Swedish businesses surveyed expect revenue to grow and plan to increase their global investments in the year ahead. A clear majority (70 percent) of companies were profitable last year, while 12 percent reached break-even and 13 percent reported negative results.

The Netherlands and France had the highest percentage of profitable Swedish companies, while the highest share of companies making a loss were reported in South Korea and Germany.

India, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are among the countries on the list identified as having the most favourable business climates for Swedish companies, while Germany, Mexico and the Netherlands were rated lowest on the list.

India, Brazil and Indonesia also had the highest share of companies saying that the Swedish brand contributes “to an extent or great extent” to their success in those markets. At the other end of the scale were the United States, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

“In the Indonesian market, Swedish products are generally considered to be high quality, robust and durable,” said M. Syahrul Mohideen, area sales manager at ScanBox Thermoproducts AB.

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