The Minister for Foreign Trade (Swedish: Utrikeshandelsminister), formally cabinet minister of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, is a member and minister of the Government of Sweden and is appointed by the Prime Minister. The minister is responsible for policies related to trade and investment promotion.
The current minister for foreign trade is Benjamin Dousa of the Moderate Party. He concurrently serves as minister for international development cooperation.
Contents
History
Between 1 July 1920 to 31 December 1982, there was a separate Ministry of Commerce and Industry which was headed by the minister of commerce and industry (handelsminister). Gunnar Lange (s) held the office for the longest time; 14 years and 32 days. The trade policy issues were dealt with between 1983 and 1996 by the minister of foreign trade (utrikeshandelsminister), who was a minister without portfolio at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. From 1996 to 2002 the title was minister for trade (handelsminister), and from 2002 the issues were dealt with by the minister for industry, employment and communications. In 2006, trade issues were moved from the Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications back to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs by the Reinfeldt Cabinet. In 2014, the post of minister for trade was abolished and trade matters were transferred to the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation by the Löfven I Cabinet. In connection with the government reshuffle on 25 May 2016, the post was re-established and is sorted under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The post has been combined with other ministerial posts since 2016: minister for EU affairs (2016–2019), minister for nordic cooperation (2019–2022) and minister for international development cooperation (2022–present).
List of officeholders
Color key
IndependentHistorical parties:
Lantmanna
Moderate
National Party
Liberals
Liberals
Liberals
Liberals
Present parties:
Social Democrats
Moderate
Centre
Left
Liberals
Christian Democrats
Green
Sweden Democrats
Status
Denotes acting Minister of Commerce and Industry