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Stockholm continues to be a hot pick in Northern Europe for investors. During 2010, 183 qualified foreign direct investments were made in the region which was an increase of 12 percent compared to 2009.

The most attractive sector for investors remained to be ICT, followed by retail, business services and cleantech. That is revealed by the year-end result from Stockholm Business Region, the official investment promotion agency of the region.

“There is a significant interest for Stockholm as an investment destination. Highly educated people, lots of innovative companies, and an economic growth that is on top in Europe contribute to this strong result. It is important that we continue to support this development, despite an increasing international competition, and keep strengthen our ability to attract investments” said Mrs Ulla Hamilton, Deputy Mayor of Stockholm, responsible for the business community.

Last year Stockholm Business Region contributed to 56 new investments in the region, with a estimated value of 1.3 billion kronor ($200 million), which are 44 percent of all investments in Sweden driven by an investment promotion agency.

Quick facts
• Most investors came from USA (39), followed by UK (22), Norway (20) and China (15) 

• Most attractive sectors were ICT (48), retail (29) business services (21), cleantech 16 and life science (13) 

• Investments involving Stockholm Business Region was worth SEK 1.3 billion, securing or creating 689 jobs

• A foreign direct investment includes new establishment, expansion, investment, acquisition, licensing, strategic alliance and joint venture.

• Examples of companies are Wind River (US), Imtech (Netherlands), Omena (Finland), Toshiba (Japan), Doc Morris/Celesio (Germany) and Google (US).

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Commissioned advertorial. This article was published in collaboration between Stockholm Business Region and The Swedish Wire.

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