American Garden
June 27 - July 1, 2023 | Södra Kyrkogatan 5, Visby

Tuesday, June 27

Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin and Ambassador Erik D. Ramanathan speak at AmCham Sweden’s inaugural Almedalen event.

On Tuesday, the inaugural night of Almedalen 2023, the U.S. Embassy Sweden hosted the event “#StandWithUkraine in Almedalen” in the American Garden. The event aimed to reiterate the U.S. and Sweden’s support for Ukraine and to give a clear signal on where the two countries stand. Ambassador Erik D. Ramanathan gave both the opening and closing remarks emphasizing the importance of the strong continued support for Ukraine from the U.S. and he was followed by several prominent speakers.

Included among these were Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin, , Ambassador of Lithuania to Sweden Giedrius Čekuolis, and Ellen Reynolds from OperationAid. Minister Bohlin mentioned his visit to Ukraine and how he was impressed by the strength of the Ukrainian people and the importance of Sweden’s continued support for the country. Also, Alina Zubkovych, Director at the Nordic Ukraine Forum, read a powerful futuristic essay that highlighted how Ukraine will come out strong and prosperous from the war.

All in all, it was a very successful first event with more than 120 guests, among them ministers, ambassadors and leading figures from Swedish business in the American Garden enjoying the good weather and the terrific speakers that were on the stage.

Tent Partnership for Refugees and Manpower host seminar in the American Garden 

The second seminar of the day was hosted by The Tent Partnership for Refugees and Manpower. They highlighted the importance and benefits of integrating refugees into the workforce and of gainful employment. On stage was Country Director Sweden for the Tent Partnership for Refugees, Karin Heri, Co-Head Nordic Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory, Nordic Cluster Head and Sweden Country Officer at Citi, Erik Savola, and Business Development Manager at Manpower, Jenny Flennemo, as well as U.S. Ambassador Erik D. Ramanathan, giving opening remarks.

AmCham hosts Annual Welcome Mingle in Almedalen 2023

Thank you to all our members, partners and friends who joined us for the annual AmCham Welcome Mingle in Almedalen to end this first day of official programs.

Thank you to the Coca-Cola Company, Ward Wines and Burgsviks Bryggeri for providing drinks tonight, and to HopShed Brew Pub for the fabulous food! 

Wednesday, June 28

U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Erik Ramanathan opens program with remarks at anti-corruption seminar in the American Garden. 

Are we making progress in the global anti-corruption commitments?
This question was discussed in the garden this morning together with Transparency International Sverige and Institutet Mot Mutor (The Swedish Anti-Corruption Institute).

Since 2014, AmCham, TI Sweden and IMM have worked together to gather private and public entities in a positive cooperation against corruption under the Tillsammans Mot Korruption umbrella.

U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Erik Ramanathan, opened the program with remarks on the U.S. efforts to strengthen democracy, counter authoritarianism, fight corruption, and promote respect for human rights. The program focused on the complex and cross-border nature of corruption, which requires multilateral collaboration and strong commitment for anti-corruption efforts to be efficient and make a sustainable impact. Hayaat Ibrahim, Secretary General at Institutet Mot Mutor, Ulrik Åshuvud, Secretary General, Transparency International Sweden, Michiel van Hulten, Director of Transparency International EU and Jacob Dornbos, Director of Policy & Operations at AmCham discussed these issues. The program was moderated by Peter Dahlen, Managing Director at AmCham Sweden. 

U.S. Embassy Sweden hosts program in the American Garden about Friendshoring of Raw Materials. 

With the need for a green transition, challenges around supply and demand for critical minerals and raw materials are core issues facing the world. This was discussed on Wednesday in the American Garden in an open program.

Participants in the program included:
Erik Ramanathan, Ambassador of the United States to Sweden, U.S. Embassy Sweden;
Jason LaTorre La Torre, Ambassador of Canada to Sweden, Canadian Embassy;
Håkan Jevrell, State Secretary to the Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Ministry for Foreign Affairs;
Annika Wäppling Korzinek, Head, EU Commission Sweden, EU Commission Sweden;
Jan Moström, CEO, LKAB, Chair, Svemin and EuroMine;
Maria Sunér, CEO, Svemin;
Moderated by Emma Härdmark, Communications Director, Svemin.

U.S. Embassy and AmCham celebrate America Day in Almedalen 2023.

This afternoon we celebrated Independence Day in the American Garden together with the U.S. Embassy Sweden, AmCham members, partners and friends. Even though 4th of July is not during the Almedalen this year, we wanted to take the opportunity and celebrate a few days in advance.

Thank you to all who attended, and a special thanks to the Coca-Cola Company, Ward Wines and Burgsviks Bryggeri for providing drinks tonight, and to HopShed Brew Pub for the fabulous food! 

Thursday, June 29

Åsa Persson presents UN Global Sustainable Development Report

On Thursday in the American Garden, Skanska, Stockholm Environment Institute and Investor hosted a private roundtable to discuss the UN sustainable development report. 

The report will be published in September of this year. However, Åsa Persson, Research Director and Deputy Director at the Stockholm Environment Institute, who was appointed by the UN Secretary-General to the Independent Group of Scientists to draft the UN Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) 2023, provided a preview of the findings from the report during a private roundtable breakfast - months before the rest of the world is privileged to this information.

AmCham Sweden Sustainability Working Committee hosts program on Sustainable Finance and EU Taxonomy 

The AmCham Sweden Sustainability Working Committee hosted a panel discussion on EU Taxonomy. Moderated by Antti Vainio, (Manager, Public Policy Nordics, ChargePoint), the panelists, including Mari Baumgarts (Sustainability Expert & Partner, KPMG), Viveka Hirdman-Ryrberg (Head of Corporate Communication & Sustainability, Investor), Lena Hök (Executive Vice President Sustainability and Innovation, Skanska), and Charlotte Kalin (Sweden Manager Public Affairs & Sustainability, Coca-Cola) discussed the implications of the EU Taxonomy. The EU Taxonomy requires companies to report their work and progress regarding sustainability. As the panelists stressed, it is most important to follow up on the report with actions to successfully work toward a sustainable future!

AmCham Sweden Life Science Working Committee hosts private roundtable in the American garden 

The AmCham Sweden Life Science Working Committee, in collaboration with AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Medtronic, Microsoft and Pfizer, hosted a roundtable in the American Garden, on the topic of how health data can be used as a strategic resource. 

Metaverse Consortium hosts seminar in the American Garden 

Sponsored by Meta, a discussion of immersive 3D environments while also acknowledging the challenges of next generation web was held in the American Garden. This discussion went into depth about the current landscape of immersive 3D environments, particularly in the broader context of the Metaverse in which the latest developments, trends and technological advancements will be explored. Additionally, the impact of immersive 3D environments on a variety of sectors and integration into our daily routines was presented alongside the forecasts and potential future scenarios of this technology through several use cases.

70th Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo speaks on Baltic Security in the American Garden
Former Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, participated in a virtual fireside chat in the American Garden. The topic was Defense, Energy, and Climate - Key Aspects of Baltic Sea Security, moderated by AmCham Managing Director Peter Dahlen. This program was a collaboration with Linden Energy and Diplomat Communication. 

Friday, June 30

Linden Energy hosts program in the American Garden on Carbon Capture and Storage
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Sweden? Unexplored Baltic Sea structures could be the answer." This was discussed in a roundtable on Friday in the garden.