mats denninger 32 | <strong>GREEN</strong> <strong>SOLUTIONS</strong> FROM SWEDEN ■ Mats Denninger, High Representative for the International Environmental Technology Cooperation (IMT) at the Government Offices of Sweden. ■
China, India, and Russia are priority markets for Swedish cleantech exports and Mats Denninger is the man tasked with coordinating Sweden’s efforts to open doors in these countries. “There is no quick fix here. It will take both patience and resources to succeed,” Denninger explains. The Man Tasked with Opening Doors Climate and environmental challenges, which are rightly seen as being the greatest threat of our time, also present an opportunity. Major investments are being made all around the world in areas such as renewable energy, waste management, water treatment, and sustainable urban development. This development opens up major fields of opportunity for both Swedish cleantech solutions and Swedish industry. In September 2011, the Swedish government invested in a strategy to promote the development and export of environmental technology, to provide support to Swedish industry. The government’s investment of SEK 400 million in the program will continue until 2014. China, Russia, and India have been earmarked as key markets for Swedish cleantech technology. Mats Denninger, as High Representative for the International Environmental Technology Cooperation (IMT) at the Government Offices of Sweden, has now reached about the halfway mark in Sweden’s campaign to increase cleantech exports to China, Russia, and India. A large number of activities and initiatives have been carried out in these countries since the program started January 2011. “We’ve focused on developing our contacts with public sector clients such as cities, regions, and municipalities,” says Denninger. IMT started by reviewing the markets using criteria related to administrative capacity and needs. From there, a number of regions and cities of interest were identified. “We’ve collected information on, communicated with, and visited the cities and regions of interest to us,” continues Denninger. The next step was to match Swedish companies with the needs of the targeted cities and regions. “We discovered, however, that meeting the demand for large system orders represents a significant challenge for Swedish companies”, he says. “There are, for example, not many companies in Sweden that can build and operate a wastewater treatment plant.” Another challenge identified by IMT is the business model used in Russia and India. “Funding is often based on public-private partnerships, which we have little experience with in Sweden.” There is, of course, no such <strong>GREEN</strong> <strong>SOLUTIONS</strong> FROM SWEDEN | 33
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