“Trade is a core ingredient of growth and jobs, and falling oil prices mean oil-rich countries such as Angola need support to diversify away from oil,”  says Joakim Reiter, Deputy Secretary-General,UNCTAD.  UNCTAD and EU are discussing a wide-reaching technical assistance and training programme for national experts in Angola’s Ministry of Trade, worth €5.5 million ($6.1 …

Have you ever visited Stockholm? If you haven’t – you should. If do, don’t miss to take the Metro.  The Stockholm underground system has been described as ‘a 115 kilometer long art exhibition’ with more than 90 of the network’s 100 stations decorated with sculptures, rock formations, mosaics, paintings, installations, engravings and reliefs by …

Snow. It is that time of the year. In Sweden, my country. Also on the South where I live.  Winter is of cause natural to us. We are used to cold weather, snow and ice.  However, every year when the first snow arrives there are always traffic jams and delays in public transportation.  Are …

Today I have been in our office in Antwerp for various meetings. It is always a pleasure to visit my very competent colleagues all around the world.  We have a great office here on Belgium. 

Happiness may be one of the world’s least controversial things. Who among us doesn’t want to be happy? As Aristotle put it: “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” When it comes to measuring happiness, though, things get a little stickier and consensus becomes …

Lennart Johansson, born 5 November 1929, was the fifth and, to date, the longest serving president of UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, from his election at UEFA’s Malta Congress in 1990 until 2007. Mr. Johansson, a legend in Swedish soccer, has also named the trophy for the Swedish Championship in football/soccer. A …

Enough of movies about detectives, spies and lawyers – and finally a movie about the real heroes of business life, accountants.  Today our business process are based on systems and the monitoring relies on system based controls. Also in Customs through systems like AEO and Trusted Traders. It will be even more so in …

The Swedish Minister of Interior Anders Ygeman and the US Ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji today signed a security agreement which makes it possible to introduce the US aviation preclearance systemat at Arlanda-Stockholm Airport.  This agreement was a result of lengthy and complicated negotiations, according to the Swedish Minister. “There have been questions about …

Sweden is one of the most successful countries in my sport Olympic Team Handball ever, winning five World Championships and numerous other titles. However we haven’t won a big title since 2002. For a period of time our national team has been good, but not good enough. Especially on 9 meters. Our 6 meters …

Today, during Day 3 of the Global Trade and Development Week, I held a Masterclass on Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) and Compliance Management. This was a three hour workshop breakout session.  The Masterclass became a huge success. More than three times as many people as registered attended the event, and the conference had to …

Today is the second day of the Global Trade and Development Week 7.0 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  I participated in a panel on digital customs and eCommerce. I also had a number of great bilateral meetings.  We in KGH Border Services is strategic partner to the organizers KW Group and Federal Customs Authority …

Today the Global Trade and Development Week 7.0 (GTDW) started in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. GTDW had more than 400 participants this year.  This is an international conference, this year with the theme: The Global Future Of AEO, Customs & Trade. I was chair and moderator for the event. Key Note Speakers were e.g: …

Today I had a meeting with Dicksons Kateshumbwa and the Director of Dubai Customs Ahmed Mahboob Musabih.  It is always a pleasure to meet old Customs friends. 

Today the UAE AEO programme formally was launched with the certification of the first eight AEO companies of United Arab Emirates in front of 250 invited national and international guests at a ceremony in Dubai.  UAE AEO is not only the first AEO programme of the Gulf region but it is the most advanced …

Tonight the news arrived, CETA will be signed. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström announced the news and also sent it out on Twitter.  The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is the free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union. The agreement eliminates 98% of the tariffs between Canada and the EU. This is …

You are what you eat. And yet most of us have very little idea of what it is we’re putting in our bodies. Take the 2013 scandal that revealed processed beef products in Europe had been contaminated with horsemeat. The discovery sent shockwaves throughout the food industry and left consumer confidence at rock bottom. …

In the past, if you wanted to get a qualification, or even simply learn something new, you would sign up for a course at a bricks-and-mortar institution, pay any relevant fees, and then physically attend class. That was until the online learning revolution started. I have always been a great beleiver in online education. …

I woke up this morning with my beloved football club, Malmö FF, being Swedish Champions again.  We are champions for the third time in four years and for the nineteenth time in history.

Tonight my football club Malmö FF won the Swedish Championship for the 19th time after winning 3-0 away in Falkenberg.  No other Swedish club has won 19 Championships before.  We are the champions! Next year we will play Champions Legaue again. 

While technology may be changing the world around us, sport will always stay the same, won’t it? The answer to that question is a resounding no, according to a new report which predicts sweeping changes to the way sport is played and consumed around the world. From ‘neurocoaching’ – training player’s brains to deliver …