Aiming to deepen bilateral ties between India and Sweden on various sectors and discuss the actions needed to navigate the COVID-19 crisis as also for creating a sustainable future for both nations, the 7th India Sweden Innovation Day 2020 themed "The New Normal" was hosted recently by India Unlimited.

The November 27 programme was held in association with the Embassy of India in Sweden, Sweden-India Business Council and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the event was attended by over 500 participants from across the world.

The one-day virtual event brought together government officials, think tanks, institutions, prominent industrialists, as well as renowned company Presidents and CEOs from both Sweden and India to explore, identify and work together for shared prosperity. The speakers also deliberated on how the Sweden-India partnership in Technology-based solutions, in the 4th Industrial Revolution & Globalization can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. Looking forward, both sides discussed opportunities for new bilateral cooperation on shared strategic priorities such as sustainable development, start-ups, healthcare, transport etc.

On 17th April 2018, India and Sweden signed a Joint Innovation Partnership to deepen the collaboration between the two countries and contribute to sustainable growth and new job opportunities. The partnership was signed during the visit of Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to Sweden.

"Research, innovation, commercialisation and next put promotion of cleantech innovations is a cornerstone with our collaboration with India. The fact that we have some 50 companies being introduced to the Indian market should be seen as a success and we hope that we can deepen the collaboration in the future. The pandemic is truly troublesome and worrying in many ways but I am glad to see that private investors have increased during the pandemic and the new normal would be able to speed up the market introduction of clean energy innovations and create much deeper collaborations with the business community. The way forward is about cross-border collaborations to fight this pandemic and build on mobility and Sweden has been both bilaterally and internationally on the forefront;" said Robert Andren, Director General, Swedish Energy Agency.

"We have together entered an era of larger collaborations and Innovation partnerships such as the one between Serum and AstraZeneca, which could act as a model for further co-operations," said Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of Saab and SEB, and Board member of AstraZeneca, and Investor AB. The total sales in the companies where the Wallenberg Foundations (directly or indirectly through the ownership of holding companies Investor AB and FAM), such as Ericsson, AstraZeneca, ABB, Saab, Atlas Copco and more, are lead owners are approximately $ 159 billion.

Robin Sukhia, Sweden-India Business Council's President and Secretary-General added, "This 7th edition of India Sweden Innovation Day truly showed the many common initiatives and interests India and Sweden have! It also reflected how integrated the collaborations really are between the two countries, at all levels. This kind of work is a result of trust and the willingness to cooperate. The India Sweden Business Leaders' Roundtable (ISBLRT) is an overarching joint top leadership group supporting innovations and collaborations between India and Sweden."

"This year's India Sweden Innovation Day was a powerful manifestation of the excellent bilateral relationship between India and Sweden. It also showed how Swedish and Indian stakeholders are committed to jointly tackle societal challenges and create sustainable growth in both countries through innovation. I look forward to continuing our innovation partnership in the spirit of co-creation and co-development." Said Ibrahim Baylan, Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation, Government of Sweden

(IANS)