Swedish Firms Give India Thumbs Up As A Favorable Business Destination

The embassy of Sweden in India and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce came out with the 9th edition of their Business Climate Survey report for India on Wednesday.

The Business Climate Survey that reflect the views of some of the biggest names in the industry like Ericsson, IKEA, Volvo,  Scania, Electrolux among others says 65 per cent of the Swedish multinationals put India as a favourable destination to do business.

This year's ratings are a massive jump from the only 15 per cent of the Swedish companies in 2013 who considered India as a favourable business destination.

Among the 160 companies that took part in the survey, 64 per cent of them claimed to be satisfied to be doing business in India. And 80 per cent of the companies claimed they would be going ahead with their India investment plan as usual.

"There are some challenges as well like the bureaucracy. Companies find it difficult to get licences easily," Ms Anne Linde, Minister for EU Affairs and Trade, told NDTV.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Swedish Minister met her Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman and invited her to visit Sweden.

The Swedish trade delegation also raised the issue of access to Indian markets, complex tax structure and how the uniform tax statement -- the goods and services tax -- can help the MNCs. "Yes the GST will be helpful but our main concern is the issue of high corporate tax and the inability of repatriating dividends,"said Paolo Collela, the regional head of Ericsson.