The Swedish government plans to strengthen bilateral trade with India and explore smart textile solution involving the Aditya Birla Group, Swedish company Domsjö and the two governments as well as the EU.

The trade between the two countries is somewhat skewed with India largely importing raw material from Sweden and exporting value-added products across the globe, said Sven-Erik Bucht, Minister for Rural Affairs from the Ministry of Enterprise And Innovation Sweden, in an interaction with the media on Wednesday.

Ranked as 19th trading partner, Sweden exports to India in the first half of this year was up at 5,375 million Sweden Krona against 4,275 million Sweden Krona in the same period last year.

Indian exports to Sweden in the first six months of this year was up at 3,178 million Sweden Krona against 3,026 million Sweden Krona logged in the same period last year.

Asked whether the Swedish government would attract some investment to produce value-added products from Indian companies, the visiting minister said the government is interested only in facilitating the trade by throwing open the opportunities and it is for the corporates to decide on their investments.

“We believe many of Indian companies what to increase food item export to Sweden. For that to happen they need to improve the quality to international standards and we are ready to provide the technology know-how for the same,” he said after sharing his experience on a visit to Aditya Birla Group Textile Research Application Development Centre at Kharach, in Gujarat.

The minister will visit Pune to meet the Swedish companies in India such as Alfa Laval, DeLaval and Tetra Pak to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the food processing and dairy sector and its export potential.

“We are keen to explore the possibility of a joint project in smart textiles using viscose staple fibre, cellulosic fibre and pulp as an alternative to cotton. Together, we need a broader approach to address the challenge of climate change,” he said while recalling his experience on landing in smoggy and polluted Delhi airport.

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