Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with legislative power vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. It is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. It has the world's eleventh-highest per capita income and ranks very highly in quality of life, health, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, income equality, gender equality, prosperity and human development. Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 but rejected Eurozone membership following a referendum. It is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Sweden is the sixteenth-richest country in the world in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) per capita and a high standard of living is experienced by its citizens. Sweden is an export-oriented mixed economy. Timber, hydropower and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy with a heavy emphasis on foreign trade. Sweden's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports, while telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance. Sweden is the ninth-largest arms exporter in the world. Agriculture accounts for 2% of GDP and employment. The country ranks among the highest for telephone and Internet access penetration.
In terms of structure, the Swedish economy is characterised by a large, knowledge-intensive and export-oriented manufacturing sector; an increasing, but comparatively small, business service sector; and by international standards, a large public service sector. Large organisations, both in manufacturing and services, dominate the Swedish economy. High and medium-high technology manufacturing accounts for 9.9% of GDP.
Sweden is the most competitive retail market in the Nordics with 20 consecutive years of retail growth. The Swedish retail sector is worth 820 BSEK.
The Swedish online retail accounts for 9,8% of total retail and has a turnover of 77 BSEK (+15%). Growth within the retail sector stems completely from online retail.
Sweden is also a frontrunner as a cashless society. Less than 2 % of all transactions in Sweden are made with cash.
You will find a variety of startup hubs, working Space, accelerators and incubators in Sweden. See some examples in the list below. Many of the larger companies have their own startup hub such as ABB’s Synerleap, AstraZeneca’s Bio Venture Hub, Volvo Group CampX, MobilityXlabs (Volvo Group, Volvo Cars, Ericsson, Zenuity, Veoneer, Geely/CEVT).
The Venture Capital market is very mature in Sweden and Sweden is one of the countries where Business Finland provides “Cross border funding services” for Finnish Startups.
Sweden as well as Finland are well positioned when it comes to Innovation power and entrepreneurship. AI, ehealth and cybersecurity are examples of “hot” areas within the start-up domain.
Sweden ranks second to Silicon Valley for the highest amount of unicorns per capita.
The Swedish business culture is quite used to doing business with Nordic companies and businesses can therefore be good at adapting according to the nationality of the partner or company in question.
Swedes do business by collaborating and through consensus. This may lead to a lot of talking, but reaching wide agreement is an important part if making decisions in Swedish business. Allowing enough time formeetings and building a relationship is key when doing business in Sweden, especially compared to Finland, where business is often conducted quite straightforwardly. Swedish organizations are often flat and united by a happy work environment. This leads to a very relaxed and casual business culture. Sweden is also one of the most gender-equal countries in the world.
Limited bureaucracy and low corruption make for an easy environment to get started in, but it can be worth the time to familiarize oneself with the Swedish welfare system and the employment laws. Costs for running a business are quite equal to the costs of doing business in Finland.
The Swedish Intellectual Property Office(PRV) is the competent authority for these rights in Sweden. All rights except copyright must be applied for and registered. These intellectual property rights give the rights holder exclusive rights to their assets for a specific period of time. For example, they might give exclusive rights to make copies, exploit an invention commercial or use a trademark or a design. A company should have an intellectual property rights strategy for its intellectual property rights.
These intellectual property rights are:
-Copyright, which protects music, films, literature and other creative works, as well as source code for computer programs. Copyright applies for 70 years after the death of the copyright holder.
-Patents, which provide protection for novel technical solutions to problems. Patent applications are published after 18 months. A patent applies for a maximum of 20 years.
-Trademark protection, which is protection for a symbol for a company, a product or a service. It could for example consist of words, figures, letters/digits, personal names or slogans. It could also be a specific formulation of the product itself, known as packaging. The trademark must be considered unique and be distinguishable from other similar products or services. Trademark protection applies for a period of ten years and can then be extended indefinitely by ten years at a time.
-Design protection protects the appearance and shape of a product, but not the actual function or the underlying idea. Design protection applies for a maximum of 25 years.
Sweden has four fundamental laws (Swedish: grundlagar) which together form the Constitution: the Instrument of Government (Swedish: Regeringsformen), the Act of Succession (Swedish: Successionsordningen), the Freedom of the Press Act (Swedish: Tryckfrihetsförordningen), and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (Swedish: Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen).
The courts are divided into two parallel and separate systems: The general courts (allmänna domstolar) for criminal and civil cases, and general administrative courts (allmänna förvaltningsdomstolar) for cases relating to disputes between private persons and the authorities. Each of these systems has three tiers, where the top tier court of the respective system typically only will hear cases that may become precedent. There are also a number of special courts, which will hear a narrower set of cases, as set down by legislation. While independent in their rulings, some of these courts are operated as divisions within courts of the general or general administrative courts.
The Supreme Court of Sweden (Swedish: Högsta domstolen) is the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions, leave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of interest as a precedent. The Supreme Court consists of 16 Justices (Swedish: justitieråd), appointed by the Government, but the court as an institution is independent of the Riksdag, and the Government is not able to interfere with the decisions of the court.
Our law firm VLO provides legal services for corporate and private clients in Sweden. These services include mergers and acquisitions, business and debt restructuring, tax and tax disputes, corporate disputes, investments, bankruptcy, litigation and arbitration.
If you have questions, please us right now.
E-mail: vlolawfirm@gmail.com
Sweden is the sixteenth-richest country in the world in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) per capita and a high standard of living is experienced by its citizens. Sweden is an export-oriented mixed economy. Timber, hydropower and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy with a heavy emphasis on foreign trade. Sweden's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports, while telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance. Sweden is the ninth-largest arms exporter in the world. Agriculture accounts for 2% of GDP and employment. The country ranks among the highest for telephone and Internet access penetration.
In terms of structure, the Swedish economy is characterised by a large, knowledge-intensive and export-oriented manufacturing sector; an increasing, but comparatively small, business service sector; and by international standards, a large public service sector. Large organisations, both in manufacturing and services, dominate the Swedish economy. High and medium-high technology manufacturing accounts for 9.9% of GDP.
Sweden is the most competitive retail market in the Nordics with 20 consecutive years of retail growth. The Swedish retail sector is worth 820 BSEK.
The Swedish online retail accounts for 9,8% of total retail and has a turnover of 77 BSEK (+15%). Growth within the retail sector stems completely from online retail.
Sweden is also a frontrunner as a cashless society. Less than 2 % of all transactions in Sweden are made with cash.
You will find a variety of startup hubs, working Space, accelerators and incubators in Sweden. See some examples in the list below. Many of the larger companies have their own startup hub such as ABB’s Synerleap, AstraZeneca’s Bio Venture Hub, Volvo Group CampX, MobilityXlabs (Volvo Group, Volvo Cars, Ericsson, Zenuity, Veoneer, Geely/CEVT).
The Venture Capital market is very mature in Sweden and Sweden is one of the countries where Business Finland provides “Cross border funding services” for Finnish Startups.
Sweden as well as Finland are well positioned when it comes to Innovation power and entrepreneurship. AI, ehealth and cybersecurity are examples of “hot” areas within the start-up domain.
Sweden ranks second to Silicon Valley for the highest amount of unicorns per capita.
The Swedish business culture is quite used to doing business with Nordic companies and businesses can therefore be good at adapting according to the nationality of the partner or company in question.
Swedes do business by collaborating and through consensus. This may lead to a lot of talking, but reaching wide agreement is an important part if making decisions in Swedish business. Allowing enough time formeetings and building a relationship is key when doing business in Sweden, especially compared to Finland, where business is often conducted quite straightforwardly. Swedish organizations are often flat and united by a happy work environment. This leads to a very relaxed and casual business culture. Sweden is also one of the most gender-equal countries in the world.
Limited bureaucracy and low corruption make for an easy environment to get started in, but it can be worth the time to familiarize oneself with the Swedish welfare system and the employment laws. Costs for running a business are quite equal to the costs of doing business in Finland.
The Swedish Intellectual Property Office(PRV) is the competent authority for these rights in Sweden. All rights except copyright must be applied for and registered. These intellectual property rights give the rights holder exclusive rights to their assets for a specific period of time. For example, they might give exclusive rights to make copies, exploit an invention commercial or use a trademark or a design. A company should have an intellectual property rights strategy for its intellectual property rights.
These intellectual property rights are:
-Copyright, which protects music, films, literature and other creative works, as well as source code for computer programs. Copyright applies for 70 years after the death of the copyright holder.
-Patents, which provide protection for novel technical solutions to problems. Patent applications are published after 18 months. A patent applies for a maximum of 20 years.
-Trademark protection, which is protection for a symbol for a company, a product or a service. It could for example consist of words, figures, letters/digits, personal names or slogans. It could also be a specific formulation of the product itself, known as packaging. The trademark must be considered unique and be distinguishable from other similar products or services. Trademark protection applies for a period of ten years and can then be extended indefinitely by ten years at a time.
-Design protection protects the appearance and shape of a product, but not the actual function or the underlying idea. Design protection applies for a maximum of 25 years.
Sweden has four fundamental laws (Swedish: grundlagar) which together form the Constitution: the Instrument of Government (Swedish: Regeringsformen), the Act of Succession (Swedish: Successionsordningen), the Freedom of the Press Act (Swedish: Tryckfrihetsförordningen), and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (Swedish: Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen).
The courts are divided into two parallel and separate systems: The general courts (allmänna domstolar) for criminal and civil cases, and general administrative courts (allmänna förvaltningsdomstolar) for cases relating to disputes between private persons and the authorities. Each of these systems has three tiers, where the top tier court of the respective system typically only will hear cases that may become precedent. There are also a number of special courts, which will hear a narrower set of cases, as set down by legislation. While independent in their rulings, some of these courts are operated as divisions within courts of the general or general administrative courts.
The Supreme Court of Sweden (Swedish: Högsta domstolen) is the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions, leave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of interest as a precedent. The Supreme Court consists of 16 Justices (Swedish: justitieråd), appointed by the Government, but the court as an institution is independent of the Riksdag, and the Government is not able to interfere with the decisions of the court.
Our law firm VLO provides legal services for corporate and private clients in Sweden. These services include mergers and acquisitions, business and debt restructuring, tax and tax disputes, corporate disputes, investments, bankruptcy, litigation and arbitration.
If you have questions, please us right now.
E-mail: vlolawfirm@gmail.com
Sweden