Dear SACC Texas Friends,
I hope you all had a relaxing summer and are ready to dive into the busy fall season. With Sweden's new foreign trade strategy and its recent accession to NATO, we anticipate growing interest in strengthening ties between the U.S. and Sweden. The plan, unveiled by the Swedish government in December, identifies the U.S. as a "strategic partnership country" for Sweden, sparking increased engagement. Notably, Texas and Houston have drawn heightened attention from the Swedish government, exemplified by visits from Sweden’s Ambassador to the U.S., Urban Ahlin, last fall and Foreign Minister Tobias Billström earlier this spring. This renewed Swedish focus on Texas is promising news for us. Texans, as we know, offer a fertile environment for entrepreneurship and innovation, which Swedish businesses can significantly benefit from.
At SACC Houston, we’ve long championed the city as a strategic hub for industries that have a global impact, with Houston boasting leaders in what we refer to as the “Holy Trinity”: Health/Life Sciences, Energy, and Aerospace. Houston is truly an “Impact City,” and we see enormous potential in the interaction with Sweden. Therefore, we are committed to fostering greater collaboration between the two regions. Our focus on Houston’s industrial “Holy Trinity” is beginning to gain recognition, and we aim to build on that momentum. I'm excited to share more concrete developments as Sweden and Texas strengthen their ties.
We’re particularly excited to see more Swedish companies and entrepreneurs discover what many Americans already know—Texas is a great state to grow your business. In Houston, we’re laying the groundwork for even more collaboration, starting with adding three new board members based in Skåne and Malmö: Ilona Kiebler, Mikael Olsen, and Siavosh Derakhti. This marks the first step in connecting Skåne and Texas—two proud regions with a shared entrepreneurial spirit, strong universities, and vibrant enterprise cultures. We’re also pleased to welcome Henry Cronholm-Levin as our latest intern, who will be with us until the end of the year. You can learn more about them in this newsletter.
As many of you know, the U.S. is in the midst of a presidential campaign that will culminate on November 5. In light of this, we are once again launching the SACC USA Business Survey in partnership with Sweden’s leading business daily, Dagens Industri. The results, which will also be published exclusively by Dagens Industri, will help us provide valuable insights – and media coverage. The survey is always anonymous and doesn’t ask for political preferences, so we encourage everyone to participate before it closes on September 29.
A few other key updates:
I wish you all a productive and enjoyable fall season!
André Persson, Chairman and President of SACC Houston
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