'Make in India' initiative comes in for Swedish praise

Harald Sandberg, Sweden’s Ambassador to India, said on Monday that this was a great time for both the countries as they had new governments. 

He was speaking at a seminar ‘Leading Sustainable Development’ as part of the ongoing Sweden-India Nobel Memorial week, which is in its eighth year now, in the city.

Lauding the ‘Make In India’ initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sandberg said that Sweden makes in India and is therefore with India in this, with the presence of Swedish companies such as Volvo, Scania, Ericsson for a long time now.

He said that presently there are 135 Swedish companies in India generating employment for lakhs of people directly and indirectly.

He said that this idea of co-creating the future fits very well with the idea of innovation and ideas for the future. “This year, of course, I am particularly happy that India’s Kailash Satyarthi has received the Nobel Peace Prize. India should be extremely proud of him and his team for the excellent work they are doing for children,” he said. He also lauded Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ for clean India. 

Speaking on the occasion, noted senior economist Klas Eklund, SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken), highlighted India’s role in the global economy and said that in the present scenario of a fragile global economy, India has tremendous opportunities to grow.

He said that India has very weak manufacturing skills, but it has the potential to strengthen this sector. He said that challenges that lie ahead for India include education, infrastructure development, corruption and energy.