Sweden — a Small Giant Music Exporter: Pop music has become a significant Swedish export product. In recent years Swedish pop groups have over topped (he pop music charts around the world. Their recordings sell by the millions and they attract enormous crowds to their concerts. They arc well-established in the US and Europe and are successfully getting into the new markets ol the Far East The group names Ace of Bace. Roxette. the Cardigans, Robyn and many, main' more are probably known to many a pop music listener. The Swedish economy has gained a lot Irom the Swedish pop music industry, only in terms of revenue it has meant approximately SEK 12 billion. On a ranking list you will find the sparsely populated country ol

Sweden on the third position of (he woi Id largest musk ex-porter, topped only by the US and UK. A small giant!

Swedish design-grace, simplicity and purity: Swedish design Is of high class and very competitive internal tonally When people talk about Swedish design, they commonly refer to Its grace, its simplicity and purity. It Is characterized by functionality, extensive use of natural materials such as wood and stone. Numerous Swedish designers and architects have distinguished themselves by their style ol creating a marriage between simple, beautiful "humanistic' objects and the functionality of the objects for everyday use by ordinary people. IKEA is perhaps the best known design

showcase worldwide. No other < umpany has disseminated sm h explicitly Swedish'' design on such a large scale Much of IKEA's production has a blond sunlit impact steeped in the democratic traditions of Swedish design

Today, as the world treads Into the 21st century, Swedish design is more important than ever before, and Stockholm Is regarded as one of the world's hottest design cities where concepts such as "less is more and "form follows thought" have gained preference within the designers' community.

The Swedish food — a mouthwatering experience: Traditional Swedish Cooking is influenced by the modest circumstances and lack of fresh ingredients the prevailed In (he old clays Simple saw malt Hals sue h as pork, herring. jxHatoea and root vegetables are recurring In many classic home recipes. Slow cooking and roasting are two of the traditional basic principles of Swedish cousines. The so called "Husmanskost”, which might be translates Into "good old down-home cooking" originally referred to simple peasant fare and the kind of kitchen that forbade waste.

The best way of acquainting oneself with husmanskost Is at the famous Swedish smorgasbord. A true smorgasbord Is built around "sill" (herring), and particularly around sill that has been pickled or marinated in a number of ways. Sill is eaten with boiled potatoes, sour cream and another obligatory accompaniment is crlp-bread laden with thin slices of hmd cheese. After that, smoked or cured salmon, meatballs, ox tongue, eel. fish ple» hamsausages, pates and salads, are optional but equally mouthwatering. At a traditional smorgasbord one Is supposed to find dishes of herring and Baltic herring, fish and shellfish, one the meat side: roast beef, boiled ham. ribs of pork, pates and meatballs. For the vegetarians there are different kinds of salads and vegetable dishes. Egg dishes, in various forms too, are a must. To complement the setting one will also find different kinds of bread, from dark to light and from soft to hard varieties together with butter and a selection of cheese. For the sweet tooth, one will find fruit salads, pears in syryp. cakes etc. The toughest thing at the smorgasbord is always restraint — go many limes, take a IK tie, go slowly and don’t bother to try everything.