HM The King's speech at ABB 100 years of pioneering technology research
Västerås
(The spoken version shall take precedence)
Minister,
County Governor,
CEO of ABB,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour to be here, celebrating one hundred years of constant innovation here at ABB Corporate Research.
My family and I have visited ABB and its businesses on several occasions. Both here in Sweden and abroad. Those visits have been important learning opportunities – and much appreciated. (Thank you.)
Among other things, you have showed how robots can improve industrial productivity. And how smart solutions can increase energy efficiency.
Just last year I visited ABB in Ludvika and learnt about the North-East Agra project, that will supply electricity to serve 90 million people in India.
Global access to clean and affordable energy is one of the seventeen sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations. It is a great pleasure to see Swedish engineering bringing us closer to that goal – and to a sustainable future at large.
Over the last centuries, Swedish enterprise has made an impressive journey.
From agricultural to industrial – and now, increasingly digital.
The European Commission ranks Sweden as the most innovative country in the EU. And has done so for eight consecutive years.
But competition is global – and it is aggressive.
Sweden’s future competitiveness will depend on high quality research and the ability to attract global talent. This is a matter of concern not only to Swedish companies and universities – but to all of us.
To conclude: The more we invest in research, the more reason we will have to look to the future with confidence.
With this, I would like to congratulate ABB Corporate Research on 100 years of progress. And wish you the best of luck for the years ahead!
