H.E. Mr Per Thöresson, Ambassador of Sweden to Germany, HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and award recipients.
By Helen Hoffmann.
To stand on a stage in front of more than 200 executives from the German-Swedish business community and receive the Swedish Enterprise Award from the hands of Crown Princess Victoria: none of the winners had probably envisioned that to happen one day. Elanders, Kinnarps and Tacton Systems were the winners of this years‘ prize that was awarded in Leipzig, Germany.
Each November, three Swedish enterprises that have succeeded exceptionally well in the German market are awarded the Swedish Enterprise Award during a gala evening.
The prize is presented in three categories: large companies, medium-sized businesses, and newcomers on the German market. The Swedish Enterprise Award is a joint initiative of the Swedish Embassy in Berlin, Business Sweden and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Germany.
The Swedish Chamber of Commerce, with its 500 members, has been active in Germany for nearly 60 years and is a network for companies and private individuals that aim to foster the German-Swedish trade relations. Germany is a crucial player for Swedish business: as Sweden’s most important trade partner, 11 percent of all Swedish export goes to Germany and 19 percent of imports to Sweden comes from Germany. Nearly 2000 Swedish-owned subsidiaries exist in Germany. More than 200 representatives of these businesses had come to the 15th jubilee of the Swedish Enterprise Award which was given extra glamour by the patron of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, HRH Crown Princess Victoria. The Princess engaged in talks with the winners who explained their products to her at their exhibition stands. From office furniture and printing innovations to pioneering digital technologies, the representatives of the winning companies introduced their award-winning ideas to the Crown Princess.
The main gala speech was delivered by Claudia Olsson, Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, who gave the audience an insight in the future. Olsson, who advises companies and governments as a digital expert, recommended Swedish business leaders to recognize their resources. “You are sitting on a goldmine”, Olsson explained.
Information, Know-how and intangible assets are already available in traditional companies and will be further developed through digitalization. The mix of interesting talkers, festiveness and outstanding networking opportunities makes the Swedish Enterprise Award an established date in the schedule for Swedish business leaders in Germany. “The prize gala is where you meet everybody who is important in the Swedish business community in Germany”, says Anna Helene Jaspers-Martens from Vattenfall. Even this time around many well-known companies were to be found on the participants list, something participants value highly: “At the prize award you can easily get in touch with new people”, Christian Schmidt from Telenor Connexion comments. “As if in small Sweden, in the middle of Germany, you can quickly and easily talk to each other”.
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For further information: www.schwedenkammer.de
Swedish Embassy to Germany: http://www.
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Photography by Torben Geeck.
