Baz Associates AB (u.b.) Venture Consulting Group 
sets up a bridge between Israel and Sweden:

Delegation of high-level Swedish business men and public decision makers visits Israel this week 

The Swedish-Israeli venture consulting group Baz Associates launches this week its first activities in Israel. A delegation of leading Swedish businessmen and officials is visiting Israel in order to study venture capital industry and state support systems for developing the startup economy. The delegates are being introduced to the leading commercial and public initiatives in Israel, and will be meeting for discussions with the Israeli Minister of Industry and  Trade, Mr. Ran Cohen, who will directly after the meeting go to Sweden in order to open the doors for a high-tech collaboration between the countries.The delegation is arranged by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in order to study the Israeli system. It is headed by Mr Christer Zetterberg, former CEO of Volvo and presently chairman of IDI, a leading venture capital firm in Scandinavia. Mr Zetterberg is also chairman of Connect, a leading network for entrepreneurs in Sweden. “My ambition is to form strong links between leading entrepreneurs and VC firms in Israel and Sweden”, says Christer Zetterberg. The delegation is bringing twenty-five prominent Swedish business men and public decision makers to Israel, among them the president of the Pitedalen Bank, Mr Anders Sundstrom (the former Swedish minister of Industry), the founder of the Swedish Internet incubator StartupFactory, Mr Rolf Skoglund  (formerly VP of Microsoft Europe and CIO of Ericsson),  the head of the Wallenberg venture banking activities SEB Foretagsinvest, Mr Jan Sundberg and the president of the Swedish Industrial Development Fund, Dr Lars Ojefors.

CLICK HERE for the whole article in Globes:  Headlines First Mission of Swedish Investors Arrives in Israel  By Roni Gelbfish For quite some time now, the fame of Israel's high-tech industry has preceded it. Even in Sweden, it transpires, various concerns are jumping aboard our bandwagon of success. Dr. David Nordfors, of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, is currently organising a mission of senior Swedish businessmen to come to Israel in March.  (more...)

The Swedish ambassador will host a reception for businessmen and officials from both countries.

The delegation is hosted in Israel by Dr David Nordfors - co-founder and managing partner of Baz Associates. Baz Associates are responsible for the program, which also has been contributed to by The Israeli Industry Center for R&D (Matimop).

“The visit marks the start of our activities in Israel. We will assist Swedish high-tech interests to enter the Israeli market and we will also assist Israelis to establish activities in Sweden. The interest for Israeli business opportunities and the new economy is growing rapidly in Sweden. This heavy weight delegation is a proof of this. In only these last few months, Sweden is experiencing the greatest  transformation of economy since the fifties. Sweden is becoming the world center for wireless Internet applications. Microsoft, IBM and Oracle have already set up activities not far from the headquarters of Ericsson. The rest will be coming soon and I beleive we will see many Israelis among them”.

For further information concerning the delegation, contact Dr David Nordfors, e-mail david.nordfors@baz-associates.com, phone 052-923 984.