East Sweden Development Agency (ESDA)

The East Sweden Development Agency (ESDA) is one of 1600 regional development agencies in Europe. We recognise that our region is not one-size-fits-all. East Sweden has a particular set of attributes that will complement the needs of select investors. Our job is to work strategically to help investors find us — because we know that it’s not easy or even practical to contact thousands or even hundreds of regions when you’re ready to move into a new market.

"Globalisation requires strategic thinking. New markets are easier to access if there are no language or culture barriers."

In Sweden, we all speak English and we like to think our culture is quite similar to that of North America — since so many of us re-located to the US and Canada 150 years ago.

Sweden, although sometimes confused with one of our neighbours to the south somewhere in the Alps, is actually quite well known. You know IKEA. You know Volvo. You know SAAB. You know Absolut Vodka. You know Gevalia coffee. You know Swedish fish—those funny rubbery candies. You know our salmon too. You know ABB, and perhaps Swedish Match. You know ABBA and Bjorn Borg and maybe now you know a few more of our athletes, who per capita, took more Olympic medals home from Athens than than the US or China. We’re actually a rather humble nation, but this country of 9 million has an amazing capacity for productivity.

East Sweden hugs the Baltic Sea. Its principal harbour in Norrköping1 provides the closest and often most cost-effective shipping access to the Baltic States and Russia. Highways and railways that intersect the region also provide direct access to the harbour which is centrally located in relation to major cities in Scandinavia.

East Sweden has the most stable and temperate climate in Sweden. Its half million inhabitants enjoy long summer hours when the temperature averages 20-30C (68-86F) degrees. Winters are relatively snowy but surprisingly mild with temperatures averaging -8-10C (18-50F). If you want the cold, you must drive north for about 20 hours to the artic circle to Vuoggatjålme2 where it might reach -50 in the winter. East Sweden has 13 municipalities. Two of them, Norrköping and Linköping are East Sweden’s largest cities and are in fact the fastest growing cities in the whole of Sweden.

East Sweden is the centre for Swedish aerospace, national defence, forensics, and road and transport, and weather. Two thousand Ericsson employees here develop some of the best wireless technology in the world at a university science park that is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Linköping University has 26,000 students and nearly 400 full professors. It leads Sweden’s research and teaching in computer engineering and the university medical school includes one of Sweden’s two clinical trials research centres. Students from around the world come to East Sweden to study not only science and engineering but also business, social sciences, arts, and education.

ESDA works with companies that are particularly interested in ICT, warehousing, logistics, aerospace, defence, simulation, forensics, pharmaceutical clinical trials, paper, and climatology.

ESDA is well-networked locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. We are here to assist you in finding the best location, financial or legal adviser, home, school, or business partner possible to make your expansion or investment decision worthwhile. Whether you’re looking for a Swedish, Scandinavian, or European location, East Sweden might well be the best first place to look. We’re free and pricelessly valuable.

Contact:
Mary Spaeth, Manager Inward Investment
East Sweden Development Agency
Platensgatan 29
P.O. Box 1224 (mailing address)
58112 Linköping
SWEDEN
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Tel: +46 13 20 07 07
Mob: +46 70 884 4461
Email: mary.spaeth@eastsweden.com
URL: www.eastsweden.com
URL for tourism and activities in English:
http://www.ostergotland.info/BildMapp/OP/bildarkiv/ostsvenska/ostsv_brosch_eng_040608.pdf

1 Ö is a separate letter in the Swedish alphabet. The two dots are not called umlauts here because they are not considered accent marks really. The ö makes the k in Linköping or Norrköping sound like sh. The word "köping" means market and is the origin of the English word "shopping". In English, many people replace ö with oe.

2 The Å is also a separate letter. In English it would be oa as in boat. Come and visit and we’ll help you pronounce this word.