Swedes Minister of State for Commerce, Ms Ewa Bjorling on Tuesday said the trade relations between Nigeria and Sweden has improved tremendously as the country last year alone generated about N3.3 billion. Bjorling, who said this yesterday while on a courtesy visit to the Nigeria’s minister of state for commerce and industry, Josephine Tapgun in Abuja, said more of such trade relationships would continue as time goes by.
She explained that she was in the country to get familiar more with the trade terrain and activities going on in Nigeria and see ways of increasing such trade activities.
While calling on the people to strive for perfection in other areas of development, the Swedes Minister of State for Commerce said with this, the country’s Gross Domestic Product, (GDP) will be on the increase.
In her response, Tapgun noted that trade relations between Nigeria and Sweden over the last decade have been overwhelmingly been in favour of the Swedish government.
She added that the country’s exports to Nigeria have continued to increase both in terms of value, volume and range, while same cannot be said of Nigeria exports to Sweden.
She said Nigeria’s export to Sweden consisted of mostly petroleum products, bituminous minerals, insulating fittings, natural gas, liquefied garments, tanned hides and skin, footwear, coniferous and densified woods, palm nuts and kernels, cocoa bean, sesame seed, glutamic acid and its salt, bulbs, rhizomes and live plants, Brazil nuts, among others.
“In the year 2002, 2003, and 2005, there were no exports from Nigeria to Sweden. Even where there was in the 2006, the value was relatively low N970,200 million, compare with the value of products Nigeria imports from Sweden N14,344,385,912.
“There is a continued increase in Swedish investments in Nigeria, which brought about the visit of the 20-Man delegation of Swedish businessmen and investors to Nigeria in May, 2009.â€
Tapgun said based on this increasing trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, there is need to explore investment promotion and protection agreement with Swedens.
“Nigeria would need collaboration with Sweden in the area of hydro-power development for an increased electric power generation, transmission and supply.
The minister however advised that the Swedish investors should be invited to partner with Nigerian companies with a view to sharing their technological expertise in using water engineering and water technology to generate power.
