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Gothenburg, May 18 (IANS) As Prime Minister Modi concluded his successful visit to the third leg of his five-nation tour to Sweden on Sunday, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise Director General Jan-Olof Jacke said that the "Free Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and India sends a signal to the world that 'trade is a part of the future, not of the past'", adding that the trade pact between EU and India is a "fantastic foundation, but it will take more to make it come to full fruition".

In an exclusive interview with IANS, Olof Jacke added: "Having said that, for the India-EU FTA to really materialise, there are a number of things that need to happen, that procedures need to be simple, that customs work well. So the trade agreement is a fantastic foundation, but it will take more to make it come to full fruition."

When asked how this visit of PM Modi strengthen the relationship between India and Sweden, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise Director General said, "I think it's fantastic to see EU and India building stronger connections, having PM Modi here for a quite substantial visit, going I think tomorrow morning to Norway. The whole sort of European-Indian relationship is significant for us, I'm sure it's significant for India, and for us in the EU, it's a fantastic foundation for making this FTA really deliver on its promise."

On handing over a report to PM Modi during his visit to Sweden, Olof Jacke added, "Our Chairman Jacob Fallenberg handed over the report that we have put together that really is set out to explain the potential, the benefits that we can have of the India-EU FTA."

On PM Modi's successful visit to Sweden, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise Director General said, "We are extremely honoured to have Prime Minister Modi visiting us and I think it's so important to build those relationships. Sweden is a very innovative country, well advanced, but a small country. India has a very talented young population and a fast-growing significant market..."

Prime Minister Modi along with the Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson interacted with select Swedish company CEOs on Sunday.

Prime Minister Modi highlighted that India and Sweden are connected by shared values of democracy, transparency, innovation and sustainability, which provide a strong foundation for an ambitious and forward-looking economic partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

He underlined that the India-Sweden partnership today is not merely an economic relationship, but a partnership of ideas, technology, innovation and co-creation.

He welcomed the longstanding contribution of Swedish companies to India's growth and encouraged deeper collaboration in research, innovation, green transition and manufacturing.

The Prime Minister highlighted India's rapid economic transformation driven by reform, strong domestic demand, digital public infrastructure, manufacturing expansion and next-generation infrastructure development.

He invited Swedish companies to enhance their presence in India under initiatives such as "MAKE IN INDIA", the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the National Critical Mineral Mission and expanding opportunities in sectors, including clean energy, defence, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing.

The discussions between PM Modi and his Swedish counterpart Kristersson also focused on strengthening cooperation in resilient supply chains, green transition, sustainable mobility, life sciences and digital technologies.

Prime Minister Modi underlined the importance of combining Sweden's strengths in innovation and sustainability with India's scale, talent and growth momentum to co-create solutions for the 21st century, the MEA statement added.

Prime Minister Modi addressed the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) in Gothenburg on Sunday. Sweden PM Ulf Kristersson, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, senior European industry leaders, and representatives from leading European and Indian companies participated in the interaction hosted by the Volvo Group.

In his keynote address, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the growing strategic convergence between India and Europe and underscored the importance of trusted partnerships in an increasingly complex and uncertain global environment.

Prime Minister Modi welcomed the growing momentum in India-EU relations, including the successful conclusion of negotiations of the landmark India-EU Free Trade Agreement.

He described the agreement as a transformative economic partnership that would create new opportunities in trade, technology, manufacturing, services and resilient supply chains. He also noted that connectivity projects such as India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) add new value to India-Europe business partnership.

Prime Minister underlined that India today represents one of the world's most attractive destinations for investment, innovation and manufacturing.

He highlighted India’s rapid economic growth, next generation economic reforms, ease of doing business focus in governance, expanding digital public infrastructure, vibrant manufacturing ecosystem and rapidly transforming infrastructure sector. He reiterated India’s vision of "Design for India, Make in India and Export from India” and invited European companies to deepen their engagement with India as a trusted and reliable economic partner.

Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India and Europe must work together to build resilient and diversified supply chains.

He highlighted India’s ambitious infrastructure and energy transformation, including large-scale investments in transport, logistics, renewable energy, green hydrogen and nuclear power. He invited European industry leaders to partner with India in areas such as telecom and digital infrastructure; AI, semiconductors, electronics, and deep tech manufacturing; green transition and clean energy; infrastructure, mobility and urban transformation; and healthcare and life sciences.

Prime Minister Modi also underlined the importance of talent mobility, education and skill partnerships between India and Europe.

He highlighted India’s young and skilled workforce as a major strength for future global economic growth and emphasised the need to deepen people-to-people ties and innovation partnerships.

Prime Minister suggested to hold India-Europe CEOs Round-table annually and also to create an India Desk at ERT. The interaction provided an important platform for exchanging views on strengthening India-Europe economic and industrial cooperation and reaffirmed the shared commitment of India and Europe to sustainable growth, technological collaboration and resilient global partnerships.

--IANS

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