Natural resources, brains and skills, higher education, active research and an entrepreneurial tradition are indisputable factors in this region’s development.

• Due to a global demand for natural resources and energy, Västerbotten has experienced a fantastic economic growth in recent years and ranks in the top in several economic indicators.
• Västerbotten is rapidly gaining focus as a leading region for attracting new businesses and foreign investors. It is also one of Sweden’s biggest regions in terms of land mass.
• Huge investments in natural resources are projected in the region in the near future.
• The price levels for land, office facilities and energy are low and readily available and there are numerous opportunities to obtain financial support.
• The average level of education is high, and world class research is carried out at the three universities in Västerbotten, Umeå University, University of Agricultural Sciences and Luleå University of Technology. Together, these universities have more than 42 000 students.
• The infrastructure is excellent. Västerbotten has six airports with commercial service, six deep sea ports with scheduled services, three major European highways, trains, and broadband covering the whole province.
• New investments are supported at all of levels of government, and welcomed by existing business.

Västerbotten province has managed to grow into a modern society without sacrificing its heritage and the natural resources. These resources are very vital in this regions growth, since they fuel both a basic industry, and the high tech businesses that have developed from the natural resources, and also from extensive research at our universities.

Owing to vast landmasses of forested land, our region has been leading in forest related businesses, including everything from a world leading cluster of forest machinery manufacturers to advanced research for new applications of wood, including engineered wood and biomass technologies.

The region holds the biggest deposits in Europe for a multitude of minerals including precious metals, which has lead to a leading position in Europe for mining related businesses, and new technologies in mining.

Västerbotten have also been pioneering in producing energy. Our big rivers were among the first in Sweden to provide for clean hydroelectric power, and recently the province has been recognized to have the best potential for wind power in Sweden.

Because of a large variety of landscapes, including everything from high mountains and wilderness to sunny coastal beaches, tourism is also becoming an important industry.

With three leading universities in the area, new industries have also emerged, most notably a strong life science cluster and new technologies in the environmental sector, as well as automotive winter testing facilities and an ICT industry with special niches within digital imaging and game development.

Foreign investments in Västerbotten

Mining: Anglo American, Blackstone Nickel , Dragon Mining, Energy Ventures, GoldOre Resources, Horizon Blue, Labtium, Metso Minerals, Norrland Resources/Mitchell River Group, Outotec, SRK, Tertiary Minerals

Wood:  Byggma, Consultec, CSCE/Mitek, Finndomo

Life Science: GE Healthcare, Merck Sequant

Cleantech: Clean Air Group/Plymovent, Fred Olsen Renewables, Inpipe, Kuusakoski, Midroc Environmental

Manufacturing: Armstrong, Danica, Franke, Isringhausen, Komatsu, Normek/DEM-Verk, PSI Group ASA, Saint-Gobain, Solifer Group, Soucy, Wipro Engineering

ICT:  Ascom, NUITEQ, Protegrity, Tieto Enator

Real Estate: Cordea Savills, Magic Property, Nordvestor