IN 1983 the Swedish Parliament proclaimed June 6 as Sweden's National Day and, as of 2005, this day is also a public holiday However, ever since the early part of the last century June 6 has been observed as “The Swedish Flag Day" with celebrations involving the Royal Family and ceremonies of various kinds.

The date commemorates tire date of two important events in the history of Sweden: the coronation on Iune6 1523of KingGustavVasa, who unified the country; and the adoption, on the same day in 1809. of Sweden's first modern constitution which included the establishment of civil rights and liberties. The long absence of an institutionalised National Day previously probably has much to do with the fact that Sweden has been spared from wars and occupations for almost two hundred years.

Sweden is a small Nordic nation, that, in the space of a century, has transformed itself from a poor country into one of the world's most modern and sophisticated welfare states and industrialised nations; a feat worthy of taking pride in. Sweden is now considered to be one of the countries with the greatest gender equality, and there is a fairly even breakdown by gender in most government bodies. The article on this page gives more facts on gender equality in Sweden and I hope readers will find it interesting and inspiring.

With only nine million people, Sweden is a small nation in terms

of population. Physically, however, Sweden is three times the size of Bangladesh and (he third largest country in Western Europe (after France and Spain). Because of its large area and limited number of inhabitants, Sweden is one of Europe's most sparsely populated countries with an average of only some twenty inhabitants per square kilometre with most of the population concentrated to its southern parts.

Sweden is one of the world's most advanced industrialised nations. Much of the success in terms of industrial growth rests on a long series of ingenious Swedish inventions and refinements of inventions. With a limited domestic market, the many Swedish companies that developed on the basis of these inventions had to find their markets abroad. Today exports account for more than one third of the economy (GDP) and Sweden has a large number of multinational corporations to show compared to its modest population. Some of the brand names with Swedish origin probably ring familiar also for people in Bangladesh; for example Ericsson, Volvo, H & M, IKEA and Electrolux just to mention some of the well-known companies.

Although raw materials and processed raw materials still account for a sizable proportion of Swedish exports, the future of Swedish business lies primarily in knowledge-intensive industries, where Sweden can take advantage of its advanced technological

development, sophisticated infrastructure and high general educa-tiona I level. Information Technology (IT) and biomedicine are two such knowledge intensive sectors in which Swedish companies have been successfully engaged for years.

Aside from these, a third Swedish industry for (lie future is mentioned increasingly as the "experience industry". This label encompasses a wide range of interrelated areas such as design, music, fashion, art, gastronomy, media, advertising and tourism, in which Sweden has experienced a creative revolution over the past decade. This has attracted worldwide attention and given the country substantial new export income.

Trade is obviously not only exports. Sweden also imports much more than its relative small size would make you believe. For example, most of the Swedish textile industries were closed down in the second half of die last century and today most garments, knitwear and other textiles are imported from countries like Bangladesh. Actually, textiles make up about 95% of Bangladesh's export to Sweden. There are now some 50 companies or agents representing Swedish exporting and importing companies in Bangladesh. Sweden endeavours to promote not only exports but also imports.

Sweden has been a longstanding development partner of Bangladesh, with extensive development cooperation since the

independence in 1971. The Swedish Government has recently decided on a new strategy for development cooperation with Bangladesh and a five year agreement covering grant support of 1,1 billion SEK (some 180 MUSD) will be signed within a short time. The responsibility for the development of projects and programmes under this agreement rests with Bangladesh. The grant support should be used in support of Bangladesh's own Poverty Reduction Strategy with special efforts aimed at securing the rights of people living in poverty to education, health, and clean and healthy environment. The largest share of the cooperation will be channelled to primary health care and primary education in support of the vision to ensure equitable and qualitative health care and education for all. Sweden is also working with a handful of Bangladeshi NGOs in their efforts to reach out to the poorest of the population.

Last year Bangladesh was severely hit by a scries of natural disasters. Sweden disbursed over 7 MUSD to organisations involved in the relief efforts after the cyclone Sidr. Special focus was placed on finding ways to assist the most vulnerable groups, including women and children.

Sweden strongly believes in the potential of the people and their right to freely and fairly choose its own government. As a longstanding friend of Bangladesh we are happy to be associated with the

preparations for the national elections to be held at the end of 2008. We are one of the development partners that provide support to the completion of the photo voter list We believe this task is key to the preparations for a credible electoral roll and we are pleased to note the good progress that is being made.

Climate change is an issue that concerns the whole world, and the extreme vulnerability of Bangladesh to its effects is well documented. Sweden is prepared to provide support to Bangladesh on climate change adaptation in the years to come and stands ready to discuss this important issue further with Government, civil society, researchers and private sector.

The Swedish development cooperation is based on a genuine wish by the Swedish taxpayers to promote better living conditions in the developing world. Today, in 2008, Sweden is spending 1 % of its GNP on official development assistance, thereby surpassing the UN goal of 0.7%. About half of Sweden's development assistance is channelled as bilateral development cooperation via the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida. The other half goes to multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nation agencies. Sweden is among the major donors to several multilateral organisations. The values and spirit of the UN system has for long

been a cornerstone of Swedish foreign policy.

Another cornerstone of our foreign policy is the close coopera tion with the other Nordic countries. It was therefore a special pleasure to jointly celebrate the Scandinavian National Days as we have done this year

On behalf of the Swedish Government and the Swedish Embassy in Dhaka, it now gives me great pleasure in extending to the Government and people of Bangladesh my warm and sincere greetings on this occasion I also extend my best wishes and hopes for the continued and growing cooperation between Sweden and Bangladesh. 1 am convinced that there is a large scope for a further widening and deepening of our already excellent relations.