At a time when Indian infotech professionals are facing charges of not complying with visa regulations abroad, Sweden is wooing Indian IT and biotech sectors to invest in the northern European nation.

Though IT majors like Infosys, HCL, NIIT, and Mascot Systems have forayed into Sweden recently, several other Indian firms are yet to take advantage of the pro-industry policies of the Swedish government.

In view of India's strengths in software and design-on-chip development, strong R&D skills and domain expertise in biotech and life sciences, Swedish minister for industry and trade Leif Pagrotsky urged IT and biotech industry leaders to capitalise on the attractive investment climate in his country, thanks to high productivity and profitability, competitive cost structures, low corporate taxes and special tax relief to key foreign personnel.

"Sweden is a hot market for the Indian IT and BT firms owing to high level of development, including education. With the use of IT among the highest in the world, more than 50 per cent of our Internet users do their banking on the net, and about 60 per cent of the 9-million population has access to information and data online at anytime, anywhere," Pagrotsky stated in Bangalore on Thursday.

Being strong in convergence of technologies, especially in wireless devices, world class infrastructure and pro-active industrial policies, Sweden offers excellent opportunity for India's growth sectors in the post-September 11 era, what with the United States economy in a recession mode.

When the US labour department looked at productivity development during the nineties in the world's major industrial nations, productivity in the Swedish industry rose faster than in any other country, clocking 57 per cent as against 40 per cent in the US and 30 per cent in the United Kingdom.

"With a long tradition of heavy industry, reliability and innovation, we invest around 4 percent of our GDP in research and technology, which is more than any other country or companies the world over," Pagrotsky claimed.

Referring to the recent visa controversy involving an Indian software firm (i-flex solutions Ltd), the Swedish minister said India should be wary of neo-non-tariff barriers surfacing in the developed countries.

"We've no problem in granting visas to Indians, be they techies or business professionals. Our visa procedures are transparent and issued according to the rulebook. India should take this issue to the WTO forum to negotiate the inclusion of services in the multilateral trade regime,” he said.

Sweden has already moved a proposal in the WTO to extend the resident visa permit to six months from the current practice of three months to enable high skilled professionals such as software engineers to undertake onsite work for longer duration," Pagrotsky asserted.

Sweden is a promoter and defender of open and rule-based world trade system in the European Union and the WTO. In spite of intense local competition and chase for venture capital, the business environment is healthy for growth and innovation.

"Indian IT and biotech firms will also find Sweden ideal for setting up either their wholly-owned subsidiaries or joint ventures in any of the clusters spread across the country in ICT, micro-electronics, and biotech," Pagrotsky told captains of industry at a one-day seminar on Indo-Swedish Business & IT seminar, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Bangalore.