Ewa Björling and her Canadian colleague discussed free trade
On 3 May, Minister for Trade Ewa Björling met her Canadian colleague Peter Van Loan in Stockholm. At the meeting they both noted that there are many similarities between Sweden and Canada. One of these is that both countries advocate free trade.
Minister for Trade Ewa Björling, with Director-General for Trade Anders Ahnlid on the left.
At the meeting Dr Björling and Mr Van Loan discussed the efforts to bring about a global free trade agreement - the Doha Round and the ongoing negotiations between the EU and Canada on an ambitious economic cooperation agreement with strong free trade elements - the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
Dr Björling pointed out that the difficult part of the Doha Round is to move from words to action, but that Sweden and the EU are working hard to make progress.
"I often call myself 'minister for free trade' and I would like to see more free trade globally, particularly within the framework of the Doha Round," said Dr Björling.
The Doha Round was launched in 2001, but progress in the negotiations has been slow.
Canadas Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan (in the middle) with staff members.
Canada, like Sweden, advocates free trade. In addition to the Doha negotiations, Canada has spent the past few years working to create new trade relations through negotiations on bilateral free trade agreements. In autumn 2009, negotiations began between the EU and Canada on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
"Before, we put all our eggs in the Doha basket. Now we are working to achieve a number of individual free trade agreements with the EU and countries such as Jordan, Colombia and Panama," said Mr Van Loan.
He added that these agreements may facilitate progress in the Doha negotiations, and Dr Björling agreed with him.
"If we achieve success in the CETA negotiations, it can create positive pressure to move the Doha negotiations forward," said Dr Björling.
Trade between Sweden and Canada
The value of Swedish exports to Canada in 2009 amounted to just over SEK 8.6 billion, according to figures from Statistics Sweden and the National Board of Trade. This is a decrease compared with the previous year, but the country is still a larger sales market for Sweden than countries such as South Africa, South Korea and Brazil. Canada's exports to Sweden are considerably smaller and in 2009 amounted to some 40 per cent of Swedish exports to Canada, just over SEK 3.5 billion.
