FDI to Stockholm continues to grow

Stockholm Business Region contributed to 71 foreign direct investments during 2009, according to the year-end result. That was an increase from last year, and constituted nearly half of all foreign direct investments to Sweden.

Most of the investments were new establishments or joint ventures in the ICT sector. More than 450 jobs are assumed created or secured in the region.

 Last year, Stockholm also strengthened its attractiveness. The amount of investments during the same period 2008 was 46.

 “This shows the international competitiveness of the Stockholm region. We have a strong position within a broad range of qualified business services and R&D. That has kept attracting foreign investors, even in turbulent times.” said Mr Sten Nordin, Mayor of Stockholm.

 Another conclusion from the result is that Asia is growing further in importance. 60 percent of the foreign direct investments originated from China, Japan or India.

 This figure is not equivalent to all investments made in the region, as some companies start without help from an investment promotion agency. Stockholm Business Region has kept track of 123 investments in total during 2009.

 Quick facts

• 40 were new establishments, 20 joint ventures, 5 re-investments, 3 acquisition, 2 venture capital and 1 subcontracting
• The Stockholm region accounted for 46 percent of all investments to Sweden
• Largest amount of investments were made from China (26 %), followed by Japan (17 %), India (17 %), Europe (16 percent) and US (14 percent)
• Dominant sectors were 18 within ICT, 9 in life science, 8 in cleantech, 6 in automotive and 4 within financial services.