Mattias Nordfeldt, Chairman of Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Qatar. Pic: Qassim Rahmatullah / the peninsula
Doha: Swedish expatriate Mattias Nordfeldt, who is Chairman of Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, is making significant contribution in strengthening ties between Qatar and Sweden.
Nordfeldt started his journey as a student and he is now Chairman of this organisation. Mattias finds Qatar a hub of opportunities for graduating students.
Talking to The Peninsula, Mattias said: “I started my journey as a student at Georgetown University. I was offered a lot of opportunities as a student, and got to know this country well.”
Nordfeldt was given a chance to work with Embassy of Sweden right after his graduation. “After graduating I got an opportunity to work with the Swedish Embassy in Qatar as its Commercial and Political Officer. I served the Embassy for more than two years which gave me an avenue to interact with all levels of the private and public sectors.”
Telling about his nature of job, he said: “My work was largely focused on creating opportunities for the Swedish private sector in Qatar, and to further strengthen the bilateral relationship, both in business and political. The concept of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce grew from there. I wanted to create something that is entirely in the private sector with the support of Qatar’s government and Embassy of Sweden.”
The Swedish Chamber of Commerce is a lifetime project for Mattias. This project aims to elevate the knowledge and interests from both countries. “It is a bilateral organisation, which aims to support the overall trade and investment relations.”
Between 2017-2018 Swedish exports to Qatar went up by 32 percent and on the other hand Qatari exports to Sweden went up by 180 percent.
Few Qatari innovations are very strong in Sweden. “There is an application developed by QCRI (Qatar Computing Research Institute) which is used in nearly 60 hospitals in Sweden. Such Qatari innovations are the fruits of the massive diversification efforts underway in Qatar, and show the success of Qatar Foundation” Nordfeldt added.
Talking about SAQ (Swedish Association Qatar), he said: “ This association has 550 Swedish expats in Doha together. This organisation hosts different activities to engage the community. They have an online platform from which they keep everyone connected.”
The Swedish Chamber of Commerce promises a lot more business activities in coming few months. Qatar Airways will start the second trip to Sweden from December 12 which will boost the tourism sector and create ease for the families living in Qatar.
