Georgia's Governor Perdue visits Sweden.
(Updated July 26, 2010) Businesspeople and government officials from Georgia and Sweden are working hard this summer to increase trade and cooperation. Last week a delegation from the southern Swedish city of Boras visited Savannah, and this week Georgia’s Governor Sonny Perdue will meet with Tomas Puusepp, CEO of Elekta, and Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of the SEB bank in Sweden.
“SACC-GA is very excited that Mr. Perdue, Georgia’s Governor, is visiting Sweden. Ever since our E-Days in Savannah last year, we have seen increasingly more business delegations and new projects arise such as the new plant in Waycross, GA with BMC and RWE. SACC-GA will continue to foster relationships between Swedish and Georgia industries ,” says Bill Lambiase, Executive Director at SACC Georgia.
Georgia has quite a bit to learn from Sweden when it comes to waste management, if we are to believe a report from Savannah Now/Savannah Morning News. The delegation, led by Borås’ Mayor Ulrik Nilsson observed how Savannah buries its waste, and the paper’s reporter Lesley Conn notes that they “watched a routine outdated by almost 20 years in their city,” a process that Borås left behind a long time ago.
“The Swedish delegation is meeting with regional leaders in Savannah this week to explore whether Savannah and surrounding partners – counties including Chatham, Bryan, Bulloch, Effingham and Liberty – are ready to develop waste-to-energy capabilities here. Savannah officials first learned of Boras’ energy development after traveling there last year to learn about sustainable energy and green building practices.
Savannah is the first U.S. city to invite them, and the attraction is in developing sustainable energy, lessening dependence on fossil fuels, reducing the expense of building new landfills and creating new revenue. The discussions also dovetail with Savannah leaders’ goal of becoming a national leader in renewable and clean energy.”
SACC-GA will continue to foster relationships between Swedish and Georgia industries ,” says Bill Lambiase, Executive Director at SACC Georgia.
Borås’ Mayor Nilsson later spoke to 30 city and county officials, sharing his city’s experience in waste management, and explaining its economic potential, but also that it can take time before the results show up. “You need to be persistent, you need to be very determined and you need to be very united to proceed,” he told the paper. Otis Johnson, the Mayor of Savannah, attended the meeting.
“This represented a great opportunity for the City of Savannah to learn from the City of Boras how they make energy from waste, create a revenue stream and reduce their dependence on landfills. We are excited that the delegation was able to come to Savannah and look forward to continuing our relationship,” Savannah’s Alderman Larry Stuber tells Currents Online.
On Wednesday, July 21st the Governor of Georgia will arrive in Sweden on the second leg of a tour to England, Sweden and Germany. The Governor and his wife will attend a dinner at the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm. On Thursday, July 22nd, he will have lunch with Tomas Puusepp, CEO of Elekta, and later he will meet with Marcus Wallenberg, who is one of the most influential businesspeople in Sweden. Later the same day, Mr. Perdue will meet with Ericsson and Sony Ericsson in Stockholm’s high-tech suburb Kista.
Below is a Swedish TV-report from July 22 about Governor Perdue’s trip to Sweden. Even though the report is in Swedish, the governor is interviewed in English, talking about his impression of Swedish green technology.
Click here to read an interview with Otis Johnson, Mayor of Savannah.
Click here to read an interview with Tomas Puusepp
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