Living standards in the Swedish welfare state are high. Active consumer spending by private households, targeted state spending and continuous investment stabilize the economy. Sweden's gross value added consists primarily of services, although its innovative and groundbreaking producing industries account for a large share of exports.
Swiss companies which succeed in establishing a foothold in Sweden can then easily spread to the other Nordic countries. The food (particularly organic product and functional food sectors), pharma and MEM industries offer particularly good markets. The Nordic markets are highly contested, meaning that Swiss SMEs must expect strong competition. The important factor is to find the niche for a company's products in order to build a stable market position and defend using innovation.
