King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden to visit Indonesia

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden will pay a state visit to Indonesia on May 22-24, 2017, to strengthen relations and intensify cooperation between the two countries.

"It is the first official state visit ever between our two countries. The purpose of this visit is to broaden the knowledge of the countries to know each other better as well as to increase bilateral trade," Johanna Brismar Skoog, Swedish ambassador to Indonesia, informed some journalists here on Wednesday.

This year, the Swedish monarchs chose to visit Indonesia as one of the four countries since it has been gaining global attention.

The country is considered as a new frontier to boost the global economy, and the Swedish government and businessmen are also keen to capitalize on this opportunity.

The economic mission will comprise 30 big companies from Sweden that will accompany the kings delegations to attend the business forum in Indonesia. Some of the companies have already been operating in Indonesia, such as Ericsson, H&M, IKEA, Tetra Pak, and Spotify, but some others are looking for opportunities to invest in the country.

Swedish delegations are also eager to work together in the fields of research, innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, which have been their strengths.

"Sweden is the worlds second most innovative country, and creativity is a big part of our tradition. Spotify, in this case, is one of the prominent examples on how it can be done. It is a company that introduces Swedish values and inventions all over the world," Skoog noted.

With regard to the agenda of the state visit, King Gustaf and Queen Silvia are scheduled to meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Bogor Palace on the first day and thereafter be part of an activity with the Center for International Forestry Research focusing on the development of sustainable forestry.

On the second day, the Swedish king and queen will hold a collaborative event with Ericsson, a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Stockholm, to discuss smart city challenges, and 60 students from universities in Indonesia are expected to attend it.

On the third day, Swedens head of state will travel to Bandung by train to have lunch with Bandungs Mayor Ridwan Kamil and thereafter attend a seminar on innovation and creative economy at the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).

"During the final session, which is a seminar in ITB, we will discuss how we can create an environment that is conducive for the development of innovations and how the government, universities, and businesses can collaborate by supporting inventions, providing opportunities for research projects, as well as helping incubators and startups," Skoog added.(*)

Source: ANTARA