The Swedish Chambers of Commerce

Sweden's Chambers of Commerce is part of a network consisting of 12 000 chambers of commerce worldwide with over 50 000 000 businesses as members. There are almost 50 Swedish chambers of commerce abroad and 30 foreign chambers of commerce in Sweden. In Europe, there are 2 000 regional chambers of commerce and in the United States, there are 7 800 regional chambers of commerce. All chambers promote entrepreneurship, and private enterprise, are important meeting places and enable crucial business contacts.

They offer: 

• ATA-Carnet: This is an international customs form that saves time and money of the users. The form is valid in roughly seven countries and allows the holder to temporarily import and export goods in countries outside the European Union without depositing customs, VAT, and other fees. 
• Arbitration: SCC's arbitration institute offers professional dispute resolution between commercial actors. This is an alternative route to court process. 
• Import guidelines: These handbooks guide users through the most important issues pertaining to importation. These were created with the intention of helping users to create an import business, increase their import, or just have general questions. 
• Business Travel: SCC arranges several trips to multiple countries each year to facilitate new and valuable connections, like finding a new supplier, business partner, or importer.

On 14th February 1960, the ambassador of Sweden was invited to the Swedish Embassy in The Hague by Sven Dahlman and other executive members of the Swedish companies in the Netherlands to discuss the future of Swedish-Dutch trade relations. This meeting was the very beginning of the Chamber, which was formally established on 12 May 1960 as the ‘Vereniging Zweeds-Nederlandse Kamer van Koophandel en Industrie’. Cees Sollart of Sandvik Staal N.V. acted as the first Chairman of the Chamber.

Mission

According to their website, their mission is to: "create a business-friendly environment". 

Vision

The Chamber's vision is to promote entrepreneurship, and private enterprise, create important meeting places, and enable crucial business contacts.

Some of the success stories of SCC include: The clearly visible SKF logo on a facade of Chongqing in China. Volvo buses rolling in Sao Paolo, Brazil. H&M store in New York City. Ericsson building telecom networks in Nairobi. IKEA stores in every major city. Trade and exchanges with other countries - near and far - has been and is an important part of SCC's success story.