Swe-Cham News Feed | January 29, 2024

The Swedish Chamber is proud to welcome PartInc Capital as our new Patron Member!  "Partinc is a European investment firm that invests in SaaS, Software as a Service, companies supporting organizations to become more efficient and sustainable. We partner up with business entrepreneurs who share our engagement and long-term commitment, and provide the experience and resources needed to accelerate their business growth". PartInc's commitment to innovation and business excellence aligns seamlessly with the Swedish Chamber's mission. Welcome!

Highlights from the Annual Member Survey 2023

The Swedish Chamber is proud to share highlights from the Member Survey 2023. The survey serves as a crucial tool in understanding the preferences and needs of our members, offering opportunities for members to engage more within the community, and share ideas on various topics to make an impact on upcoming programs. We are very pleased to present the key results, and thank participants for their valuable input. We are now contacting members who have expressed a wish for collaboration with the Chamber in 2024. We look forward to discussing such opportunities!

Seminar: Has the world fallen out of love with the Swedish Brand?

The Swedish Chamber Patron Member Up There Everywhere is welcoming all members to a unique seminar on February 14, exploring Sweden's brand image amid rising crime rates. To what extent are the problems impacting the nation's image and reputation as a safe and peaceful country, and more significantly, how does it affect aspects such as business, inward investment, tourism, and the recruitment of international top talent? The event will be moderated by journalist Maddy Savage, and is available online and on location in Stockholm.

Coming soon: Business Climate Survey 2024 in the Netherlands 

The Business Climate Survey is an appreciated and important tool used by Team Sweden in the Netherlands to map the opportunities and challenges Swedish companies face when doing business in the Netherlands. This year marks the survey’s fourth executive year in the Netherlands, and 23 countries partake in the collaboration worldwide. Representatives of Swedish-linked businesses in the Netherlands will receive the survey in their inbox on Thursday 1 February. We look forward to receiving the responses and presenting the results.

Are you our next intern for autumn 2024?

The Swedish Chamber of Commerce provides a dynamic networking platform to promote collaboration between Swedish and Dutch businesses. For the fall semester of 2024, we are offering an internship opportunity to a motivated and ambitious student approaching the end of their education. We are seeking a marketing-oriented communication student from a Swedish university, with an interest in graphic design and experience in social media. We invite our members to share this opportunity with the young professionals in your network. Find more information and the application on our website. 

Meet our new member contact persons

As the new year comes with changes, some of the Swedish Chamber members have presented new contact persons for the Swedish Chamber community. We want to extend a warm welcome to the following: 

• Fatih Noyan, Ericsson
• Ruud de Brake, Anticimex
• Mark Verbakel, SKF
• Menno Ovaa, RTL AdAlliance

The Reuters Digital News Report 2023 reveals that 22% of Swedes and 27% of Dutch sometimes or often avoid the news. As a strategy to tackle news avoidance, the Swedish public broadcaster SVT started the initiative "Fika med SVT", involving conversations over coffee with thousands of Swedes to better understand the audience's needs. The project resulted in a shift to more constructive and solution-oriented news reporting. The goal is to include constructive elements in each national news broadcasting, emphasizing solutions to societal issues. 

The Swedish Chamber is proud to donate €1600 to the Gilat Foundation, courtesy of generous member contributions at last year's Charity Raffle during the Annual Exclusive Lucia Dinner held in December. Gilat Foundation is dedicated to providing interactive children’s theatre in academic children’s hospitals. The Swedish Chamber would like to thank all its generous members for their contributions, and the following sponsors for making the Charity Raffle possible: Strömma, Stena Line, Kosta Boda, Orrefors, Hotel Des Indes, Hotel Hilton, Hotel Diplomat, Storytel, and Sav.

Breaking news from Scania Benelux

Starting April 1, 2024, the Swedish Chamber Patron member Scania will split its operational activities for the Netherlands from Belgium and Luxembourg. Janko van der Baan takes on the role of Managing Director for Scania Netherlands, intensifying their focus on local markets. This strategic move aims to bring customer-facing entities to the forefront while streamlining back-office operations. 

Latest regulation changes in the Netherlands for 2024