Press release 28 February 2007
Ministry for Foreign Affairs

UN procurement - an opportunity for Swedish companies

Minister for Foreign Trade Sten Tolgfors met leading UN officials for discussions on procurement and other matters in New York on Tuesday.

In order to offer the UN system quality Swedish goods and services a group of Swedish companies have jointly formed the Swedish Association for UN Business (SWEUNB) in cooperation with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Trade Council.

The Swedish Trade Council will shortly launch a website designed for companies that want to increase their cooperation with the UN.

"Many Swedish companies are unaware that the UN and its agencies may be in great need of their goods and services. This is why the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Trade Council want to encourage Swedish companies in a position to do so to export more to the UN system,´" says Sten Tolgfors.

"I know that Swedish companies have a good reputation in the UN," says Sten Tolgfors.

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The UN's total annual procurement volume is of the order of USD 8 billion, a large part of which goes to peace-keeping operations and humanitarian assistance. The share that Swedish companies take of this procurement volume is only around 0.3 per cent.

Most major donors to the UN have a much large order volume than Sweden. For instance, Danish companies sell 10 times more to the UN than Swedish companies.