President Gustavo Petro was received this June 12 in Stockholm by Maria Christina Lundqvist, Director of Protocol, and Katrin André, in charge of the State and Official Visits Section.
Photo: Juan Diego Cano / Presidency
Sweden, a country with nearly 10.6 million inhabitants and a gross domestic product that by 2024 is more than US$623 billion (according to the International Monetary Fund -IMF), is not only the first stop on an international tour in which President Gustavo Petro seeks to promote Colombia as an example in terms of negotiated solutions to conflicts, but will also serve as a stage to strengthen the relationship of a private sector that wants more options at the binational level.
That is why executives from organizations such as the Argos, Ardilla, Gilinski and Fenalca groups are among those accompanying the presidential delegation with which the head of state makes his official visit between June 12 and 14 and who will have an alternate agenda with who want to strengthen ties in a sector that is essential for the economic performance of both nations.
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In this scenario a name is key. This is Marcus Wallenberg, a 67-year-old Swedish banker who leads one of the most powerful families in his country and the continent, and who commands one of the business emporiums with the greatest presence in various sectors of the economy on this side of the globe. (of at least 150 companies it manages, 50 already have some type of presence in Colombia); In addition, it has been unofficially said that close to 50% of the operations carried out on the Swedish Stock Exchange are related to the companies that he controls.
In a quick review of the threads it handles, companies such as Electrolux, Saab, Astrazeneca, Skandia, Ericsson and -among others- ABB appear. And although several of them already have ties with Colombia and its private sector, the Casa de Nariño took on the task of serving as a bridge so that the visit that is carried out within the framework of the 150 years of diplomatic relations with Sweden could take place. high-level meetings that open new horizons and enhance existing ones.
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Colombian executives have planned meetings with their peers from these firms in spaces such as Business Sweden, an event that could be similar to ProColombia. Appointments at Navigare Venture also appear on the agenda, a type of investment group in nascent firms with an emphasis on matters related to science and innovation. And according to official sources there would be an additional appointment with Banco SEB, which is part of another business conglomerate with ties in various sectors and with interests in Colombia.
This deployment with the private sector is key at a time when the Colombian economy is going through a downturn that President Petro himself recognizes and that led to a cut of nearly $20 billion in public spending, through a reduction of 5.6 % in the budget of each sector. Furthermore, according to official figures revealed by Dane at the beginning of the week, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 7.16% for its annual variation in May, which meant a reduction of 5.2% compared to at the same month of 2023; but, and here the call for attention was generated, the monthly behavior of inflation remained at the same level as April of this year, 0.43%, which translates into a kind of moderation in its rate of decline.
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However, the Casa de Nariño knows – despite some friction that President Petro himself has had with some representatives of the private sector – that the synergy between this sector and the public is key to promoting development and giving air to the now increasingly most mentioned economic reactivation. And Sweden, precisely, has an important load of symbolism in this aspect.
In fact, after the end of the Second World War, in this country there was a kind of national agreement that achieved a very strong joint work between the private and the public, not without a certain political burden, to put this Scandinavian nation among the 20 richest privileged states on the globe, according to IMF measurements.
This is why, in addition, at the extended dinner that Petro, Wallenberg will hold this Thursday night, the Colombian and Swedish executives (among whom there will also be delegates from EON), along with other representatives of the political power of both countries, are decisive the ties that can be woven to attract investment to Colombia and generate interest in the local economy among the Scandinavian firms that will have some type of representation at the event.
Now, in this entire process of strengthening ties between the private sectors of both nations, the name of the Saab company (of the Wallenberg group) is key, which maintains its intention to sell combat aircraft to the country – which is under analysis to renew the Kfir of Israeli origin – and which recently reached a very advanced point of negotiation.
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According to high government sources, they were finalists in a process that ended up slowing down to take that step together with firms from the United States and France. In fact, the Swedes recently reported that they have a prototype of an aircraft assembled in Brazil and that it could serve as a base to extend their commercial ties in the rest of the region, including Bogotá.
In any case, President Petro’s agenda in Stockholm includes key appointments regarding peace and how Colombia can be the axis of dialogue processes to end conflicts, such as the one signed with the extinct FARC and of which the president and his allies want to give it constituent overtones. Here, in addition, the commitment to so-called total peace will have no less space.
(Historical Pact will insist on the merger of legal entities and will propose primary elections)
Also decisive will be his passage, between June 15 and 16, through the Swiss town of Bürgenstock, where the Conference for Peace in Ukraine will take place. Delegates from all levels from at least 90 countries attend this meeting, but with the notable absences of Russia – the invading nation – and China, whose diplomats reported that they would not be present due to the way in which Vladimir’s possible departure was handled. Putin, Xi Jinping’s ally. Unofficial information indicated that neither Brazil nor Mexico, among others, will be present.
Here Petro wants to enhance his story of denunciation of what he described as genocide in Gaza perpetrated by Israel, and insist on the need for the war that Putin’s Russia unleashed against Volodymyr Zelensky’s Ukraine could have a negotiated solution. But while he reaches these spaces, the economy continues to be another leading front for the head of state during his time in Sweden and Switzerland.
Even, according to official information, they are working on a dinner for next Monday in Cartagena, within the framework of the Ibero-American Ceapi Congress, in which some of the Colombian crooks with whom the president and several of his bishops have met would be present. on other occasions looking for points of understanding to strengthen at an economic level and that are also related to the so-called national agreement.
