History

History & Organization of the Swedish chambers of commerce

The first Chamber of Commerce in Sweden was established in Stockholm in 1902.

The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Lithuania was started as Swedenhouse in 2001 and was converted into a Chamber of Commerce in 2005.

The Swedish Chambers of Commerce are private law chambers. Membership is not compulsory.

To receive government authorisation the Chambers must have a democratic constitution. All Chamber members must have a say how the Chamber is ruled.

The members appoint an executive board of directors. Members pay their fees to the Chambers.

The Chambers main task is to represent the business community in contacts with national, regional or local authorities. The Chambers promote their region and make contacts with business organisations and government institutions. The Chambers are recognised as the official representative of the business community in their region.

Market economy and free competition are the cornerstones of the Chambers of commerce policy.

The Chambers are active promoting projects within their regions, which are of prime importance to the business community. Chambers are active on fairs and other commercial events.

The over all aim of all activities of the Chambers is to serve and promote the business in their regions.

There are 30 Swedish Chambers of Commerce abroad.

They are members of the Association of Swedish Chambers of Commerce, which in turn is a member of the European chamber organisation EUROCHAMBRES, with about 18 million member companies in 44 European countries.