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Trade Mission to Sweden & Finland
Sweden
Sweden is Virginia’s 25th largest trading partner. Virginia exports to Sweden in 2022 were valued at $112.9 million. In 2022, Sweden was the United States’ 12th largest export market in Europe, with nearly $7.8 billion in exports. Sweden is the largest Nordic economy and boasts a transparent, highly developed, sophisticated, and diversified market with few barriers to entry Sweden is a member of the European Union, meaning that many of their regulations are standardized with the rest of Europe, easing barriers for foreign companies exporting to the country. However, Sweden is outside of the Eurozone, but many companies in the country are more than happy to conduct business in US dollars. Sweden also consistently ranks high for its connectivity, governance, investment in R&D, and business climate. As such, many foreign firms establish operations in Sweden when looking to enter or expand into the Nordic and Baltic regions.
Top opportunities for Virginia exporters to Sweden include:
- Healthcare
- Medical Equipment
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Smart Environmental Technologies
- Cybersecurity
- Agriculture
Finland
Finland is Virginia’s 50th largest trading partner. Virginia exports to Finland in 2022 were valued at $69.2 million. In 2022, Finland was the United States’ 19th largest export market in Europe, with nearly $2.7 billion in exports. The country is highly integrated into the global economy with international trade accounting for a third of its GDP; Finland’s commercial clout far exceeds its relatively small population of 5.6 million. Additionally, Finland is a member of the European Union and is the only Nordic country that uses the Euro. It sits at the epicenter of Europe’s “New North”, a unique intersection of geography, infrastructure, education, good governance, and high-technology industries. Finland shares an 833-mile-long border with Russia, and as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine defense spending in the country has increased in recent years.
Top opportunities for Virginia exporters to Finland include:
- Agriculture
- Energy
- Healthcare Technology
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Defense
- Logistics
Registration Deadline
Contact
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on past trade missions, we expect 6-10 Virginia companies to participate. The registration process is ongoing until the trade mission is full or the registration deadline has passed.
You must pay the trade mission participation fee of $2,500 to the VEDP at the time of registration. The participation fee includes the following:
- Identifying, contacting and pre-qualifying local distributors, reps and/or partners and organization of your meetings with interested prospects
- A “Doing Business In” briefing on the market(s)
- Your VEDP Trade Mission Leader and in-country consultant on hand during the week to ensure everything runs to plan
- Interpreter if needed
All travel expenses including airfare, hotels, meals, individual ground transportation to be paid directly by each participant. Additional estimated costs you will incur include (but are not limited to):
- Roundtrip airfare
- Hotels (7 nights)
- Meals
- Airport transfers, taxis, and other miscellaneous items
In most cases, you will be traveling independently to the locations of the local companies with which you are meeting. Because most appointments will be held at the companies’ locations, travel and other logistics may prevent each delegate from having a minimum of 3-4 meetings each day of the trade mission.
For travel between meetings, our consultants will recommend the most effective method of transportation. This will likely be a local car/driver.
If required, interpreters will be provided for meetings and are included in your registration fee.
Airline tickets: You book (and pay for) your own airline ticket via local travel agent or online air travel website. If you do not have a travel agent, the Trade Mission Leader can recommend one for you.
Hotels: VEDP will choose the hotel(s) and make reservations at a pre-negotiated government rate for each delegate. However, delegates will be responsible for their own hotel charges throughout the mission. All delegates will stay at the same hotel in order to facilitate logistics as well as to encourage the interaction and networking that is always a collateral benefit of traveling with a group. You will pay all hotel room charges directly to the hotel.
Contact your local International Trade Manager or the Trade Mission Leader immediately! We only want you to make the trip if we think there is good market potential for your company. We can perform exploratory market research within a short period of time to verify market potential for you.