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ECONOMY

‘Global shift’: India growing in popularity among Swedish businesses

International growth markets such as India and Indonesia are becoming more attractive to Swedish businesses, according to a new survey by Business Sweden, which also indicates that traditional markets such as North America are stagnating in popularity.

Published: 30 August 2023 09:54 CEST
'Global shift': India growing in popularity among Swedish businesses
A rainbow is seen over the iconic Gateway of India in Mumbai in August 2023. Photo: AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade/TT

“In the past two years, India as well as the United Arab Emirates have overtaken the US and China when it comes to favourite countries and business climate. I don’t want to use the word paradigm shift, but it does still mark a global shift which is rather hard to analyse,” Business Sweden CEO Jan Larsson told TT newswire.

In the survey – the Global Business Climate Survey 2023 – Business Sweden investigated the Swedish company market in foreign markets, contacting over 1,600 businesses and other representatives through the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, as well as embassies and consulates worldwide.

Larsson identified a number of factors which seem to support this shift. While India’s population has grown, China’s has dropped. At the same time, India has launched a range of different initiatives to improve the country’s growth, including the Make in India project encouraging foreign companies to do business in India.

“India has become an attractive production site for Swedish companies and has a growing middle class,” he explained. “India has been the favourite to become a future market for a long time but I think it’s finally going to happen now.”

Indonesia, Canada and Brazil were also ranked highly in the survey, and a total of 66 percent of responding companies expected increased income compared with 2023. The least popular countries for Swedish companies were Germany, Portugal, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Larsson believes that the weakening popularity of western European markets and the USA is linked to the economic stagnation in these areas as a result of inflation-busting measures, such as interest rate hikes.

The fact that these markets are now less popular for Swedish companies is not necessarily bad news, Larsson said.

“With regard to our overarching ambition to increase Swedish trade and the export of Swedish goods, it’s more positive than negative. These are very large markets, Indonesia is the fourth largest in the world and India is the largest.”

“I also believe that developments in western Europe and the USA are linked to economic factors, like the war in Ukraine.”

After the survey was completed, Quran burnings in Sweden gained international attention, with some countries calling for boycotts on Swedish companies. Larsson warned that could have greater consequences than previous crises for Swedish companies.

“Developments concerning what’s happening should be taken extremely seriously. There has been a long, drawn out period of negative publicity in a relatively large part of the world. Having said that, this may not affect us in the long term.”

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ECONOMY

What Taylor Swift’s Stockholm gigs tell us about the Swedish economy

Taylor Swift's visit to Stockholm is expected to boost the capital's economy with international fans grabbing a 'bargain' thanks to the low Swedish krona, despite the fact that hotel rooms are almost 300 percent more expensive than normal.

Published: 17 May 2024 15:17 CEST
What Taylor Swift's Stockholm gigs tell us about the Swedish economy

The weak Swedish currency, the krona, means tickets for Swift’s three Stockholm dates are more affordable than elsewhere for many foreigners.

Fans around the world seem to have heeded Swift’s lyric “Grab your passport and my hand”, with “Swifties” from 130 countries flocking to Stockholm. Many queued through the night outside the Stockholm arena before the US star’s first concert on Friday.

“In total we will see approximately 150,000 people attending the concerts in Stockholm. Of them, 120,000 will be traveling to Stockholm,” Stockholm Chamber of Commerce chief economist Carl Bergkvist told AFP.

“They will be spending approximately half a billion Swedish kronor ($46 million) during their stay here in Stockholm,” he said.

That is money dished out on hotels, meals, shopping and transport, among other things, but not concert tickets or flights, Bergkvist said.

After opening her European tour in Paris last weekend, Swift’s Stockholm shows are her only dates in the Nordic region.

The Visit Stockholm tourism agency was also in on the hype, with its webpage on Friday proudly declaring “Welcome to Swiftholm”.

But last-minute tourists will struggle to find a hotel room in the city.

“We have approximately 40,000 rooms in Stockholm – 80,000 beds – and 120,000 people coming here. So we will be out of hotel rooms and we see a price spike of approximately 295 percent,” Bergkvist said.

“As soon as these three concerts were announced, there was immediately a surge in demand,” Åsa Lilja, commercial director at hotel chain Ligula Hospitality Group, told AFP.

“This also led to a rise in prices,” she said.

Swift-flation?

Sweden has only recently managed to bring down recent years’ stubbornly high inflation.

Economists have expressed fears that the Swift craze could send Swedish consumer prices rising again, as they did when pop diva Beyoncé opened her European tour in Stockholm last May.

“There’s a risk that prices will rise for hotel and restaurant visits, the concert tickets and everything that goes along with” the show, Danske Bank economist Michael Grahn wrote in a note.

However, “the price pressure would have to be even stronger than (the Beyoncé effect in May) last year to be reflected in the inflation figures”.

Swedish central bank governor Erik Thedeen even took the influx of foreign Swifties as a sign that the Swedish “krona was fundamentally undervalued”.

“It’s clearly a bargain to come to Stockholm,” he said.

Meanwhile, fans seemed ready to spend whatever it takes to see Swift perform.

“I spent around 7,500 kronor ($697) in total for three tickets. I think it’s worth it,” said Filippa, a 21-year-old Swedish fan queuing up early Friday for the evening’s concert.

 
 
 
 
 
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