Opportunities for new Swedish-Italian collaborations after summit in Rome

Drive Sweden was part of a Swedish trade delegation that visited Rome in October. The purpose was to showcase the solutions and opportunities Sweden offers for developing automated, connected and shared solutions for a more sustainable transport system, in a situation where Italy is investing many billions of euros in a green transition to stimulate and strengthen the economy after the corona pandemic.

Italy, Europe's third largest economy, is making big investments to speed up the economy, strengthen several societal functions and to increase sustainability. A € 222 billion stimulus package, largely from the EU Recovery Fund, focuses on innovation, digitalisation, infrastructure, sustainable mobility, green transition, health, education and social inclusion. As much as 40 percent of the money goes to sustainable solutions and 27 percent to digitization initiatives. At the same time, Sweden has come a long way in terms of sustainable and digitized solutions - not least in the area of ​​mobility. Therefore, Drive Sweden, several of our partners, such as Univrses, Ericsson, Chalmers University of Technology, RISE, SAAB, Volvo Cars and WirelessCar and other players were part of a delegation led by the Swedish Embassy and Minister of Trade Anna Hallberg who visited Rome and several important Italian players on October 18-20. Among others, ANAS, Stellantis and Politecnico, the Polytechnic University of Turin were visited.

"Swedish companies and technologies are at the forefront when it comes to sustainable transport solutions and digitization. This delegation aimed to position the Swedish business industry as Italy now launches an ambitious agenda to modernize roads, energy systems and digital infrastructure", says Jan Larsson, CEO of Business Sweden, whose organization hosted the delegation, together with the Swedish Embassy in Rome.

Through the hosts' contacts, new doors were opened for finding ways to collaboration and research partners and openings to participate in procurements in areas such as sustainable transport, digitalisation and infrastructure. The hope is that sustainable Swedish technologies and solutions will be a part of the mix as Italy now invests in green, which can be very rewarding for both countries.

"Through Swedish exports, we can contribute to reducing emissions globally and creating more green jobs in Sweden. My ambition is to open doors for Swedish companies and strengthen the trade relationship with Italy. Sweden is a world leader in sustainable solutions and Swedish companies have a lot to offer in Italy's green and digital transition after the pandemic", says Minister of Foreign Affairs Anna Hallberg.

Malin Andersson, Program Manager Drive Sweden:

"For Drive Sweden, this was an important visit to showcase both the sustainable and digitized solutions our network has for future mobility and the working methods we apply to drive sustainable innovation. We were offered good insights into how they in Italy work with issues related to ours and through the meetings that now became possible, doors were opened for both new ideas for initiatives in both countries and possible collaborations."

Being able to be a part of, learn from and contribute to Italy's green transition can mean good opportunities for many players and Drive Sweden's hopes for future collaborations are high.
 
"We who were a part of the delegation feel that the visit gave us new, important knowledge and great new contacts. Now, we look forward to nurturing the Italian contacts, learning from each other and working together to develop and launch more sustainable mobility solutions", Malin Andersson concludes.