Ericsson President and CEO, Per Narvinger, has welcomed a joint declaration between the governments of Sweden and Singapore to boost cooperation on trusted and innovative technologies.

The ‘Joint Declaration on Strategic Cooperation on Trusted and Innovative Technologies’ was signed today at Ericsson’s Stockholm headquarters in the presence of the King of Sweden, His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf, and Singapore President, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, as part of a Singapore state visit to Sweden.

Ensuring competitiveness in the digital economy is one of the key goals of the declaration, with 5G and 6G mobile connectivity playing a key role.

Addressing attendees, Narvinger said 5G and 6G connectivity is essential to the technology stack needed to realize the positive potential of emerging technologies, such as AI.

He said this connectivity needs to be resilient, secure, trusted, and backed by robust supply chains. Narvinger said Ericsson will bring its leadership in these areas to help achieve the joint declaration goals in collaboration with partners in Singapore and Sweden.

“Singapore really embraces the value of connectivity as national digital infrastructure and is a frontrunner as a result,” Narvinger says. “It is an important market for Ericsson.”

He adds: “Ericsson is proud that an important commitment between two of the world’s most advanced technological nations has been signed at our Stockholm headquarters. It shows we have a significant role to play. We are honored to host His Majesty, President Shanmugaratnam, and senior ministers from both governments and pledge to play our part to help realize the goals of the declaration.”

The Sweden-Singapore joint declaration aims to “strengthen bilateral cooperation on emerging technologies and other areas that contribute to our mutual prosperity and competitiveness, drawing on the complementary strengths of the participants from government, industry and academia.”

The declaration outlines four areas of potential cooperation: Technology and Supply Chain Resilience; Cyber Security and Trusted Connectivity; Trustworthy AI Deployment and Governance; and International Rules, Norms and Standards.

“Sweden and Singapore possess complementary strengths in telecommunications, digital infrastructure and the deployment of advanced technologies. Building on these strengths, the participants intend to promote secure and trusted connectivity and explore opportunities for cooperation on advanced communications technologies,” the declaration says.