The Swedish Trade Council (Exportrådet,Sveriges Exportåd often abbreviated, STC) was founded on 1 July 1972 to serve the Swedish Government and Swedish business, and it remains a public-private partnership despite being organised under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Originally, it was founded on mercantilist principles to increase Swedish exports, but is today a trade promotion agency. A part of the business is run like a management consultancy firm, independently of the government structure, working under the pretext of helping Swedish enterprises to achieve international growth and business development.

The Council has three areas of operations: sectoral trade promotion (jointly funded by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and business alliances), fee-based consulting assignments and government-subsidized SME assistance. Specialized branches work in areas such as trade facilitation, development, public affairs and strategic exports.

Currently, the Council has about 500 employees in more than 50 countries working in close collaboration with Swedish embassies, consulates and chambers of commerce. Formally, in most of these countries, its country manager holds the title of Commercial Counsellor at the local Swedish embassy, and hence enjoys official status in the country. Normally all other staff, apart from local employed staff, are employed as civil servants at the Commercial Counsellor's Office, which is a Swedish Government Agency.

External links

• swedishtrade.se
• Special projects managed by STC:
  • swedishbusinessawards.com