Great interest from Germany in the Swedish lightweight market

The interest was big and the conversations many when a delegation from Germany traveled to Sweden in May. With a focus on lightweight and mobility, seven companies and three research institutes visited Stockholm and Gothenburg for three days to make new contacts and get to know the Swedish lightweight market.

On behalf of the German Ministry of Trade and Industry, the German-Swedish Chamber of Commerce arranged a study trip to Sweden for a German business delegation. The trip began in Stockholm with visits to the German-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, lunch mingling and company visits to, among others, Scania in Södertälje. When the delegation arrived in Gothenburg, Cecilia Ramberg and Christian Olsson from SIP LIGHTer participated in the activities to promote new contacts and possible collaborations in the future.

One of those who attended the visit was Marc Fette, CEO of the Composite Technology Center / CTC GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Airbus in Germany that works with lightweight solutions for the aerospace industry, among others.
- It is important for us to look at markets other than our own in order to go from research to series production. Sweden is an important market and we have gained many contacts that could result in joint projects, says Marc.

The delegation also included several research institutes. Saskia Biehl, Head of Strategic Development at the Fraunhofer LBF Research Institute, says that she has made several new contacts.
- Such a well organized visit offers many opportunities. In addition to meeting new companies, we have also learned more about LIGHTer and found collaboration opportunities, says Saskia.

The visit to Gothenburg lasted for two days and included gatherings and company visits in different places. The visitors were welcomed by RISE, Polestar and Stena Teknik, among others.
- It was a very educational and interesting journey in many ways. We were able to show that Sweden works at all levels - academia, research and companies - together. From the Chamber of Commerce, we have created the conditions for new contacts and now we hope that the visitors take these further and use the potential that exists within, among other things, LIGHTers network, says Katrin Kraus-Wikholm, project leader from the German-Swedish Chamber of Commerce.