On May 14th-17th, the CLS received 20 MBA executives from Sweden, enrolled in the 2024 Executive MBA programe at the Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University. The visit is an annual collaboration for CLS with Stockholm University and Nova School of Business and Economics. The first visit took place in 2018 and has been part of one of CLS most appreciated gatherings ever since.
Tuesday, May 14th, started with a fruitful breakfast meeting at NOVA SBE with the presence of Ambassador Elisabeth Eklund, Deputy Head of Mission, Lisa Qvarfordt, as well as Ida Ortega and Robart Löf from Business Sweden They provided a brief presentation about the history, politics, and trade relation between Portugal and Sweden.
Later, the same day the executives got to dive deep into some Swedish companies operating in the Portuguese market. First, they visited Diaverum at their clinic in Algés to listen to Sofia Correia de Barros, Country Manager of Portugal, talk about their treatment for kidney-diseased patients and their national business operations.
The second company visit was to Essity Portugal, where their Managing Director, Carl-Magnus Stensson talked about the Essity Business Service Center in Lisbon.
In the evening it was time for the annual CLS networking event, Executive Exchange Dinner - Swedish Executivs visit Lisbon. This year we had a record-breaking number of attendees. 72 Swedish and Portuguese executives entered the Altis Avenida Gastrobar Rooftop to mingle and discuss trade and business across borders, as well as listen to the AI-expert, Bernardo Caldas, while having dinner and drinks.
Wednesday, May 15th it was time for the executives to visit Peniche to hear more about some of the Portuguese Blue Economy initiatives.
Susanne Wedin-Schildt Founder of Ocean Community and Innofuse Blue represented the possibilities in Blue innovation, while Nuno Leite Founding Partner of SEAentia, introduced aqua cultivation.
Thursday morning, May 16th, we had Nuno Roso, Head of Digital Services Portugal at Ericsson Portugal, and Paulo Coelho, Managing Director Portugal & VP Latam at Anticimex, joining us.
Nuno Roso presented the Ericsson Portugal journey and the latest updates in the 5G network.
Paulo Coelho told the story of how Anticimex became a market leader in Portugal due to an adaptive approach and a decentralized decision-making process.
Last but not least the executives explored the Lisbon startup scene with a guided tour at Hub Creativo Sitio. Marcus Nordquist co-founder and CEO of QueensLab Portugal shared his transparent perspective on expanding an IT consultancy company to Portugal.
A true week of connections, hands-on agenda and possiblity to share learnings and best practices between the Swedish and Portuguese business communities.
CLS extends our warmest gratitude to everyone who made this week a success and is already looking forward to next year's visit!
