The cooperation between Republic of Belarus and Sweden

(СОТРУДНИЧЕСТВО МЕЖДУ РЕСПУБЛИКОЙ БЕЛАРУСЬ И ШВЕЦИЕЙ)

Sweden is one of the northernmost countries in Europe with 15% of its surface north of the polar circle. It is the third largest country in Western Europe, but has a relatively small population of just over nine million. The majority of the Swedish population lives in the south of the country with a third living in or near Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. The capital is Stockholm located on the east side of the country with a population of around 1.8 million.

The Swedish economy is heavily dependent on a highly developed and internationally successful industrial sector, which was established in the early part of the 20th century through companies such as Ericsson, Asea, Astra-Zeneca, Alfa Laval, SKF, Electrolux, Volvo and SAAB, and now includes more recently established companies such as H&M and IKEA. However, many of the flagship companies are now totally or partially owned by foreign companies and shareholders. There have been several structural reforms since Sweden became a member of the EU such as the deregulation of the telecommunications, energy and air traffic sectors. Sweden favours progressing the WTO negotiations (particularly achieving greater trade liberalisation) and the Kyoto Protocol - views shared across the domestic political spectrum.

After being one of the strongest performing economies in the EU in the late 1990s, the bursting of the IT bubble hit the Swedish economy hard, with GDP growth falling from 4.4% in 2000 to 2.0% in 2002. Since then, the GDP growth has recovered and is expected to accelerate to 4.2% in 2006 before slowing to 3.4% in 2007. The growth has mainly been driven by robust exports, investments and domestic consumption combined with high productivity. Slow progress in creating new jobs has resulted in higher unemployment rates, totaling 4.9% in September 2006 (Swedish Statistics Bureau). Inflation pressure has remained low due to the combination of high unemployment, strong productivity and increased competition in retail. However, it is estimated to rise from 0.7% in 2005 to 1.4 % in 2006, totaling 1.7% in 2007 (EIU Viewswire November 2006).

The bilateral relationship between Republic of Belarus and Sweden is strong, particularly in the areas of trade and education services. Both countries consult and cooperate closely in energy saving, energy management and use of renewable resources.

USD, mln.

	Turnover	Export	Import	Balance
	37,5	9,3	28,2	-18,9
	48,2	13,1	35,1	-22
	80,6	20,3	60,3	-40
	126,8	27,2	99,6	-72,4
	163,7	65,4	98,3	-32,9
	235,3	136,9	98,4	38,5
	351,6	262,6	89,0	173,6
2005 vs 2004 (per cent)	149,1	191,3	90,3
01.01.2006-01.04.2006	156,1	135,4	20,6	114,7
01.01.-01.04.2006 vs 01.01.-01.04.2005 (per cent)	150,0	165,5	92,9

Exports in 2005: oil products, potash fertilizers, timber, textile and clothes, tires, peat, carbon steel rods, furniture, refrigerators, tractors, etc.

Imports in 2005: long-range communication equipment, other machinery and equipment, trucks, spare parts for tractors and trucks, pumps, medium for sound, etc.

The actual amount of Swedish investments into Belarusian economy in 2005 amounted to USD 11,76 mln.

Another sphere of cooperation between countries is implementing innovation technologies, especially biotechnological. In Sweden there is currently a focus on new technologies, specifically in the areas of: genomics; bioinformatics; and nano-biotechnology. Specialist biotech sub-sectors include: applied microbiology; immunology; endocrinology; diabetes/metabolism; infectious diseases; neuroscience; oncology; biochemistry; and molecular biology.

With approximately 250 biotech companies, Sweden is the fourth largest biotech market in Europe, and has the highest number of biotech companies per capita in the world.

Петрушкин В.М.

БГЭУ (Минск)