Swedish lawmaker sees PH role in de-risking strategy

MANILA – A Swedish lawmaker wants increased trade between Sweden and the Philippines, seeing the role the country could play in Stockholm’s “de-risking” agenda.

De-risking had been a buzzword in the West as more and more countries, including European states, deem it necessary to reduce dependency or reliance on a single supplier or country.

“Sweden and the European Union is dedicated to derisking from China and to enhance our relations with alternative countries — countries that can take up and have more trade with Sweden, with the European Union,” visiting Member of the Swedish Parliament Joar Forsell said in a roundtable discussion in Makati City on Friday.

Sweden, being a neighbor of Ukraine, is well-aware of the increasing alignment between China, Russia, and Iran. He said cooperation he has become “much deeper than before.”

“In that scenario, we also need to cooperate much further and much deeper with countries like the Philippines, other countries around the world where we can enhance trade, so, that’s one of the key reasons why we are here, to get more trade, de-risk, and work together for a rules-based world,” he added.

Last year, Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard reiterated that Sweden is de-risking to ensure that its trade with China won’t impact its national security.

The move follows her criticism of Beijing’s “enabling of Russia’s war in Ukraine through its support to the Russian industrial base,” which she said “directly affects European security.”

Currently, Sweden ranks as the Philippines’ 41st trading partner, 45th export market and 38th import supplier.

In 2023, Swedish investments in the Philippines reached USD11.81 million, up from USD5.74 million in 2022.

There are some 50 Swedish companies in the Philippines, but Margareta Cederfelt, Member of the Swedish Parliament (MP), is optimistic this number can still grow

“I am convinced that more companies can be interested to be established here. And I this is also a very important way to work for peace and stability, by a stable economy, economic growth, there is also a good possibility to keep peace,” she said.

Forsell and Cederfelt are part of the seven-member delegation of the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs visiting the Philippines March 6 to 8 to strengthen interparliamentary diplomacy.

Together with them is the head of the delegation and chair of the Committee of Foreign Affairs Aron Emilsson, Linnea Wickman, Kerstin Lundgrenn, Jacob Risbebrg and Magnus Berntsson, all MPs

Emilsson said his delegation will also meet on Friday night Philippine-based Swedish companies, majority of whom have already “shared their interest” to becoming a “trusted trade partner and investor” in the country and in the region. — Joyce Ann L. Rocamora  (PNA)