Highlights from the seminar: "Has the world fallen out of love with the Swedish brand?"

A well-attended and riveting panel discussion took place in Stockholm on Valentines Day, tasked with interrogating the health of Sweden's global brand.

Representing expertise in economics, trends, tourism, trade and investment, the panel were well positioned to offer their insights, with pertinent questions from host Maddy Savage.

Three fundamental issues explored in this seminar are:

• Investment from abroad
• Recruitment of top international talent and diversity
• The growth or stagnation of the hospitality industry

Sofia Bard, a political scientist from the Swedish Institute, monitors the health of the Swedish brand globally, drawing upon 10 million data points each month:

"If we talk about gang crime or NATO, we have seen some changes," says Sofia. Yet, so far, the impact of these events has not impacted the perception of Sweden according to Sofia's metrics.

Maddy presents a question from the audience:

"Are we comfortable with the picture the media is presenting both inside and outside of Sweden?". Julian Stubbs, UP THERE, EVERYWHERE founder and international brand strategist, has observed a marked change in the tone of the international coverage of Sweden:

"In my first twenty years of living here [in Stockholm], Sweden was rarely mentioned. In the last five years, it's gone through the roof!"

Patrik Andersson of Business Region Gothenburg states that while Gothenburg and Sweden remain very competitive as a destination for investment, there are concerns about recent events:

"In one of these negotiations [a potential investor] cited violence, crime, segregation, asking "What is the situation in your country?"

Yet, across all indexes, Sweden is performing well. Says Nils Persson of Visit Sweden:

"[In the last ten years] we have risen in the nation branding index; as a sustainable destination, Sweden has been in the top three for the last five years".

Dr. Lin Lerpold of the Stockholm School of Economics notes that Sweden is dealing with a challenge to its self-image:

"Sweden has been marketed as this perfect place; we're tech savvy, [rank well for] gender equality; we thought it was this idyllic place, and suddenly, reality is setting in; we have issues just like any other country".

It's clear that Sweden cannot remain complacent as the panel grapples with the question of how to maintain Sweden's enviable global standing.

It's also clear from the panel that starting the conversation is the first step in getting to grips and meeting these challenges.

Watch a short teaser of the seminar below or access the full recording of the panel discussion here.