[Sweden]: Message to Norway

[Connor]

Government of Sweden
Löfven Administration

Security Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
Document Classification and Security Act 1995
Encrypted by the Swedish Security and Intelligence Service​

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Dear Torfinn Karlsen (Minister of Trade, Kingdom of Norway),

I am writing to you as the incumbent Secretary of the Economy representing the Kingdom of Sweden's interests surrounding our economy which includes international trade.

Currently Sweden has one of the largest economies in the world and it has fluctuated over the last year growing from a minority Scandinavian nation to one of the most sought-after markets globally. We have projections to grow our nation into a developed export-orientated economy throwing ourselves into the use of our resources to constitute our objective of a foreign-trade orientated economy. Traditionally a modern agricultural economy, we have moved away from this throwing ourselves into to developed engineering. Our primarily industries now include motor vehicles, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, industrial machines, precision equipment, chemical goods, home goods and appliances, forestry, iron and steel.

We have a competitive open market economy. The vast majority of our income is currently received by strategic investment and domestic growth. We would like to cooperate with the Kingdom of Norway to make use of the currently under-used rail network to allow for the managed export/import of goods between our nations. I'd very much like to discuss this further so please give me a call as soon as you get the opportunity to do so.

Regards,
Wille Blomqvist
Secretary of the Economy
Kingdom of Sweden

@Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Torfinn Karlsen, the Minister of Trade for the Kingdom of Norway, picked up his phone and made a secure call to Wille Blomqvist, Secretary of the Economy of the Kingdom of Sweden. He listed and waited for his Swedish counterpart to pick up.
@Connor

 

[Connor]

As the telephone ring in his office he leans over to pick up the receiver and bring the speaker to his ear... "Hello? Secretary Blomqvist speaking."

 

[Odinson]

"Hello Secretary Blomqvist..." he said. However someone walked into his office. He covered the receiver and remained silent for a few moments. All that Blomqvist could hear was mumbling coming from the other side for a moment.

"I apologize, I thought this was an encrypted line. I've just been informed by a member of my security team that your side of the call isn't secure. Please give me a call back on a secure line and I'd be happy to talk," he said, before hanging up the phone.
@Connor

 

[Connor]

Wille stares blankly at his receiver, having now recognised the extension number he mumbles "Honestly... these fucking Norwegians"

He redials, this time on an encrypted line.
"Hello, it's Secretary Blomqvist calling from the Department of the Economy - I'm returning your call"

 

[Odinson]

Minister Karlsen picked up his secure line and answered the call after the fourth ring. "Hello Secretary Blomqvist. You asked me in your message to give you a phone call about trade. How are you doing today?" he asked as if the previous interaction hadn't even happened.
@Connor

 

[Connor]

"Minister, a pleasure to hear back from you so soon, I am in a spectacular mood. I am eager to kick a different kind of relationship off between our nations and it appears that the infrastructure to support trade is already in place, we just need to make best use of it... Are you familiar with the rail links between Sweden and Norway?"

 

[Connor]

@Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"I am familiar with these rail links," he noted in a delayed response. "Do you think trade via our rail network between our two countries would be fruitful to the both of us?" he asked as he contemplated the idea himself. International trade via rail was surprisingly rare, especially in Northern Europe.
@Connor

 

[Connor]

"Air travel and shipping is notoriously expensive, especially when we sit as neighbours. The rail network has served us unbelievably well with passengers affairs, primarily commuters, who work between the two nations - frankly this is exactly what our nations need, the commercialisation of infrastructure already in place. Of course, as with everything that's brand new, it'll have to be trialled and there may be some necessity for investment in the future to make it worthwhile but I certainly think it'll be much more economical than trading by air in the first instance." a brief cough interrupts his response before continuing "Plus, what better way to put the Nordic region on the map than being the first known European nations to make use of alternate methods of trade?!"

 

[Odinson]

"Well you're not going to believe this, but I've been told that the government is supposedly in possession of some functioning steam locomotives which we would be happy to re-purpose for trade between our two countries. We are trying very hard to get the Norwegian people interested in travel by rail, so perhaps using these steam locomotives will garner us some publicity in Norway and Sweden - assuming that you wouldn't have an issue with that?

"And yes, I agree with you. We should take advantage of this kind of trade. So, how should we set this up? How many trains should we set up between our countries? We would be more than capable and happy to have five separate trains depart from Norway to Sweden every day with our five primary exports."
@Connor

 

[Connor]

"Oh, steam! That'll certainly make the line a focal point. I think that'd be great not only for the recycling and longevity of locomotives but also a fantastic public relations stunt to draw attention to our recent developments - I'd certainly have no issue with your locomotives. We've recently invested in a number of EMD Class 66 Diesel-Electric locomotives which we will be using for bilateral trade under the Swedish Transport Administration."

Wille snaps his neck to one side in a sudden, violent twitch before continuing as normal...

"Absolutely, at the moment we are focused on using Arvika as a primary freight location before distributing it via road throughout Sweden - dependant on the success of this venture I'd love to extend the trade throughout both the Norwegian and Swedish rail network. From memory the first city on the Arvika line is Oslo, will this cause issues having your hub within the capital? I am conscious I don't want to interrupt passenger services. Perhaps it would be better to have a curfew for freight trains ensuring they're only travelling via this precious lines during off-peak times, when there's a minimal amount of passenger services operating?"

 

[Odinson]

"I have an alternative proposal, please tell me if this would work. Our locomotives would go from Trondheim (Norway), turn off in Hell (Norway), and take the Meraker Line to Storlien Station (Sweden) where they would then continue on the Swedish Central Line to Ostersund (Sweden). From Ostersund (Sweden) the train would make its final stretch to Borlange (Sweden) where it would unload its cargo at the cargo terminus there," he said.
@Connor

 

[Connor]

"I can agree with this, it would require some logistical changes for the move to Arvika to Borlange but this should have little to no impact on the arrangements."

"Have you considered what cargo, specifically, you would like to import into Norway?"

 

[Connor]

@Odinson

 

[Connor]

@Odinson

 

[Connor]

@Odinson

 

[Connor]

@Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"We would be interested in all of the major exports of Sweden. Would that be the same case for you? Also, do you think your government would consider a free trade agreement with Norway? This hasn't been something discussed by the Nordic Council, but I don't see the harm in us establishing a temporary one until the Council creates one for Sweden, Denmark, and Norway," he said.
@Connor

 

[Connor]

"Similarly we would be interested in the same with Norway - we were pondering the opportunity for free trade between our nations, I think it would be counter productive for such a close alliance to charge for the exchange of commodities. I'd like to get this trade network open as soon as possible so we can assess the economic benefits"

@Odinson