MODERATOR: Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to declare that the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Sweden will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on technology cooperation, the Technology Prosperity Deal. The Memorandum of Understanding will be signed by the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard.
Excellencies, I invite you to share your remarks before proceeding to the signing of the memorandum. First I invite Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard to speak, followed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
FOREIGN MINISTER STENERGARD: Thank you. So now it's my turn, and dear Secretary Rubio, dear Marco, it's such a pleasure to welcome you to Helsingborg and the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting. But right now, we are here to celebrate a milestone in our bilateral relation by signing a Technology Prosperity Deal. I can think of no better place to do this. Helsingborg is an illustration of our common history. In the 19th century in this very harbor, tens of thousands of Swedes set - bid a final farewell to their homeland as they set out for a new and better future in North America. More than a hundred years later, around 5 million Americans claim Swedish heritage.
Our bilateral ties are strong and we are deepening our cooperation in key areas. In just the past year, Sweden has joined NATO, opened consulates general in both Houston and San Francisco, signed a bilateral defense cooperation agreement, and joined the U.S. flagship initiative Pax Silica.
Today we are taking another step forward. This Technology Prosperity Deal will unlock new potential for our shared security and prosperity. By building on our common interests and complementary strengths, this memorandum will deepen cooperation between our companies and bolster economic growth. Whether it's AI, connectivity, defense innovation, or space, we are stronger when we work together.
Let me express my sincere appreciation for our partnership. We look forward to working even closer together, and thank you, and once again welcome to Sweden.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you. Thank you very much. First of all, it's great to be here. You've done a great job of hosting us. So impressed with the country, and really, just in the context of NATO, a model Ally, but a country we've working with very closely for a long time beyond NATO. I know NATO gets a lot of attention these days, but we've been so interlinked in so many different ways over the years. This is a very creative and innovative society, very creative and innovative people, and together in this agreement and what we were able to do - you were also the first ones to sign Pax Silica - it shows that we're going to build what is already a shared legacy and history of cooperation in the fields of technology and innovation to become even more competitive in the years to come.
All these cutting-edge industries, whether it's biotech, whether it's biotechnology, whether it's artificial intelligence, telecommunications, you name it - all of these fields are - today what we are signing simply builds on what we've already been doing for such a very long time, and I think it's just going to make us both - both of our countries and the broader West and really the world - more competitive, more innovative, and I can't wait to see what the fruit of this will bear in the years to come as new products come to market to solve some of the most challenging problems that mankind faces, but also to the benefit of our peoples, our countries, and our economies. So it's an honor to be here today to be able to sign this with a great Ally and a great partner that we expect to do a lot more with in the years to come. Thank you.
MODERATOR: I invite you to sign, your excellencies.
(The Memorandum of Understanding was signed.)
