Key Industry Sectors --Featured Business Opportunities

The featured sector industries below will have a special presence during the Entrepreneurial Days. These sectors, among with others, are some of the unique business opportunities you will find in western Sweden.

1. Production Technology
2. Automotive
3. Incubators, Entrepreneurship and Innovation
4. Logistics and Distribution
5. Security and Defense
6. Bioenergy
7. US Subsidiaries in Sweden
8. Swedish Design for Home, Kitchen and Industry
9. Biomaterial and Stem Cell Research

1. Production Technology

Machinery, automation equipment, material supply systems, environmental equipment, and facilities work in concert with people to produce batches of products in Western Sweden that compete on the world markets. American producers of batch products may take advantage of this technology in their operations at home or abroad by learning from seeing it operate in its original environment. Also, American producers of production technology may benefit from the same exposure and take home this technology under purchase or licensing arrangements.

There are Western Sweden equipment suppliers presently selling healthy portions of their production in the US that want to expose potential customers, and contacts between automation equipment makers in Michigan and Sweden, which are the basis for inviting participation in this project.

The purpose of including this cluster in the E-days 2006 project is the opportunity to expose groups of American manufacturers to effective production technologies in their environment. The emphasis will be on bringing US executives on plant visits where many technology providers are exposed.

Measures of success will be sales and licensing agreements by participating producers.

> Download this pdf-doc for more info.

2. Automotive

The Swedish truck manufacturing industry is globally among the most advanced. With Scania and Volvo being the core components surrounded by parts and systems providers, as well as aftermarket suppliers of components, logistics, flats, cabs, and special equipment such as dumpsters, as well as demanding users; fleet owners, international logistics franchises. Västra Götaland is a center of this activity with Volvo Powertrain and Truck assembly, and the largest transportation center in the Nordic countries, the Port of Gothenburg.

American suppliers to the truck industry have an unrealized potential to increase their participation in the Swedish market, and it is in Sweden's interest to encourage import from the US to reduce the imbalance of trade, particularly in the transportation sector. In fact, Scania and Volvo are jointly with the US Department of Commerce running a campaign to help US suppliers increase their export to Sweden. And a catalog with more than fifty interested suppliers is scheduled to be available from USDOC in October. These will become primary contacts together with the truck makers' purchasing directors.

Within the E-days 2006 project, it is intended to build on this work and to invite Scania, Volvo and USDOC to cooperate and coordinate efforts in bringing decision makers to Sweden. The primary forum will be company visits to the truck makers as well as to their component suppliers and after-market, and the E-days may become an important way station for exposing many US executives to investment opportunities in Sweden.

The results of these efforts are specific supply, licensing, j/v agreements, or direct investments and we'll have to work closely with the companies involved to obtain such measures, which may be subject to confidentiality. Successful American companies operating in Sweden will help strengthen this industry cluster even further on the world market.

> Download this pdf-doc for more info.

3. Incubators, Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The dominant realities of present economic development are that industries in developed countries live and operate in worldwide markets that are increasingly competitive and volatile, and the process of structural change shows no sign of abating. With the availability of new production, transportation, and communication technologies, developing countries can effectively compete with industrialized ones and emerging firms and industries are constantly rising to challenge older ones. Thus, regional economic development efforts are undertaken to counteract economic instability and employment changes driven by this globalization. Communities, states and public purpose organizations in industrialized markets have taken an active role in the development and commercialization of technology and in promoting the establishment of new companies. The key concepts in these economic development programs are innovation and entrepreneurship for driving economic growth by fostering new ideas, technologies and processes that lead to better jobs and higher wages - and as a result, a higher standard of living.

As these efforts and there outcomes need to be applied in the global markets, incubators are increasingly networking cross-borders to learn how to effectively run incubator organizations and in sharing of resources for launching of products and growing companies.

This project aims at seeking out and to invite suitable incubators in the US (where there are around 1000 incubators) for matchmaking with counterparts in west Sweden with its 15-20 incubators that includes between 100-150 start-up companies.

The metrics for this cluster will be agreements between incubators and their entrepreneurs across the Atlantic.

> Download this pdf-doc for more info.

4. Logistics and Distribution

This program will illuminate today's activities and exhibit future business opportunities between Europe and the U.S within the logistics and distribution area. The program will also include a visit to Port of Gothenburg and leading companies in the logistics and distribution industry.

> Download this pdf-doc for more info.

5. Security and Defense

Some sixty Swedish SMEs producing security equipments have been rallied for the opportunity of supplying the American defense and security needs. Some Swedish companies like Bofors, Ericsson, Hägglunds and SAAB are long-time suppliers to the US DOD, and there is a long-term military cooperation between the US and Swedish governments on defense matters.

The project is aimed at inviting some eight American agencies dedicated to bring new suppliers to the attention of the US DOD. These agents will bring current DOD procurement plans and projects to the attention of the Swedish participants, and start the vetting process.

The military attaché to the US at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C. is coordinating this cluster together with the Swedish defense material department of the government.

The immediate results of this project is expected to be Swedish companies beginning their procurement processes addressing open bids to DOD.

> Download this pdf-doc for more info.

6. Bioenergy

Using of bio-material from forest and farm surplus made into pellets for heating has created one of the fastest industry developments world-wide, and this is particularly accentuated in Northern Europe's and North America's need for alternative sources of fuel. Sweden has established an integrated industry from the production of fuel to the equipment for handling and burning of pellets.

The US has access to cheap pellets from Canada (which is exporting to Europe as well). There is a strong demand for heating equipment, their installation, and pellet distribution to homeowners and institutions in the Northern United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

This project combines efforts for establishing business-to-business relations through meetings and on-site visits for interested American business executives with the organization of export facilities to enable systems and service support to importers from the United States.
The outcome for this cluster will be the business agreements obtained.

There will be special programs both on Aug 21 and on Aug 23-26 (Bioenergy Days).

For program on Aug 21 please download this pdf-doc

For information about the Bioenergy Days Aug 23-26
please visit www.bioenergydays.com

Bioenergy Days Swedish

Bioenergy Days English

7. US Subsidiaries in Sweden

The aim is to encourage owners of US sub's in Western Sweden (we have identified over 270) to increase direct investments and taking advantage of the profits generated by expanding their capabilities for growth primarily in the Nordic and Baltic markets. Exposing owners of US sub's to the opportunities of using Sweden as an effective base for operation and for re-export is a particular element of the E-days 2006 project.

Sweden's Ministry of Industry initiated earlier this year a project to meet with executives of US subsidiaries in order to learn how to facilitate the creation and managing of foreign owned companies in Sweden.

Within the context of this project, it is intended to select a number of candidates (at least 20) based upon cooperation by the subsidiary managements and their guidance whom to contact within the parent organization. These efforts could lead to a number of meetings with individual company executives both in the US and Sweden that may culminate during the E-days 2006 with a symposium.
The measures are commitments to direct investments.

> Download this pdf-doc for more info.

8. Swedish Design for Home, Kitchen and Industry

Refurbishing of kitchens in the United States is big business, but an extremely local affair. Except in rental apartment houses, each household, whether condominiums ("insatslägenheter") or single homes, makes a separate decision on the layout and content that commonly involves gutting and refurbishing the whole kitchen from floor to ceiling at tens of thousands of dollars. European designs of cabinets, white wares and plumbing fixtures are quite popular in high-end designs.

It is believed that other kitchen equipment suppliers in Western Sweden than ASKO Cylinda (with some 30% of its volume exported to the US) can be successful in America. The issue here and now is how within the context of E-days 2006 such companies working together (Kitchen Kingdom) can find out how to go to market?

The idea is to invite a number (at least ten) of kitchen architects and importers to visit with the Kitchen Kingdom participating firms as a market test. The validity of such a test is of course resulting sales contracts.

> Download this pdf-doc for more info.

> For designer presentations please click here

9. Biomaterial and Stem Cells

This program will bring together research and industry in the areas of medical implants, bio sensors, diagnostics and drug targeting with a focus on targeted drug delivery, regenerative medicine, biomaterials & tissue engineering, cell therapy and medical diagnostics.

It will feature leading scientists and industry leaders of highest international standard.

  > Download this pdf-doc for more info.