Sweden: Blockade a Blessing in Disguise for Qatar

Qatar-Sweden ties have seen remarkable progress in the four years HE Ewa Polano has been Stockholm’s ambassador to Doha.

Having served as Sweden’s ambassador in Indonesia for five years, she was given the task of establishing the Swedish embassy in Qatar. “It was a major task entrusted to me as it involved building up relations between Qatar and Sweden,” Polano said while talking to Qatar Tribune in a recent interview.

Replying on a question on blockade of Qatar by a quartet of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, she said, “Qatar has emerged stronger, which is a fantastic achievement by all means. Although it is an undesirable development for the region, the Gulf crisis has seen Qatar turn adversity to an opportunity. In the days following the uncalled for siege, Qatar has made remarkable progress in all fields. The country’s drive to achieve self-sufficiency in food production is making great strides. One sees manifold increase in production of homegrown vegetables and fruits which sell at rates cheaper than previously imported products. And Qatar is now in a position to meet 100% of its requirement of milk and dairy products from local production. In my view, the blockade acted like a wake-up call for Qatar. This is evident from phenomenal progress made by Qatar in the areas such as food security, international relations and launch of new trade routes, among others.” 

According to the Swedish envoy, there has been a paradigm shift in Qatar’s economic policy as seen in successful attempts to shift from hydrocarbon-based economy to an economy which has diverse strands with great emphasis being laid on building a knowledge-based society. Qatar is becoming a hub of cultural as well as academic activities, Polano said, adding, that the opening of new museums and signing of MoUs between local and foreign universities are all working towards making Qatar as an intellectual hub in the region.

Talking about bilateral trade between Qatar and Sweden, the envoy said that although trade between both the countries was not that significant, there was an encouraging increase recorded in 2018 over 2017. She said that exports from Qatar to Sweden were worth US$ 258m in 2018 and US$ 181m (2017), whereas Swedish exports to Qatar amounted to US$ 248m (2018), and $ 226m (2017).She said that Swedish companies of international repute like ABB, IKEA, Alfa Laval, Astra Zeneca, Ericsson and H&M, etc. have made valuable contribution to development of Qatar. There are 556 Swedes working in Qatar.

Eva said that 20 Qatari families have invested in summer homes near Stockholm, which together have come to be known as Little Doha.

On her choice of diplomatic career and early life, she said, “After doing my high school, I found myself at a career crossroads. First, I decided to become a teacher in French and German given my love for the languages. But, on second thought, I changed my mind just before applying for the course thinking the teaching profession rather boring for a person of my temperament. At one point, I even toyed with the idea of becoming a journalist until I decided to take up diplomacy as a career which certainly was a right decision as I reflect on it today.” But her love for journalism is far from diminished as she always takes great pleasure in the company of journalists “because of their wide-ranging knowledge and guts to ask uncomfortable questions.”

Talking about her initial days, she said, “I was lucky to have started working in the Swedish embassy from the very start even before becoming a career diplomat.” She was selected to be a third secretary at the Swedish embassy in the Netherlands. But becoming a full-fledged diplomat was still far away.

She continued, “After having served in the Netherlands for two years, I was required to go for higher education needed for joining the foreign service. I studied in universities of Stockholm and Gothenburg with political science and international economy the majors. After completing my education, I applied for a full-time career as a diplomat.”

“Having cleared the written test, I had to go through a series of interviews by different experts belonging to diverse backgrounds such as academics, politicians, trade-union activists and so on, and, eventually, I was selected. This was in the year 1987,” she said.

The year 1987 became memorable for Eva not just because she was inducted into the diplomatic services but also the same year she met her soulmate. “A fantastic career coinciding with start of a family is all one needs in life, and I was lucky to have both together in the same year,” Polano reminisced.

In the summer of ’88, Polano joined the Swedish embassy in Buenos Ayres, Argentina, as second secretary. Her career graph has kept rising with every new posting. Her posting to Buenos Ayres not only introduced her to the geo-political situation of the Latin Americas but also offered her an opportunity to move around in the social milieu of the widespread Spanish culture of the country. “My love of learning new languages quickly added Spanish to my language portfolio of six languages that I can speak with much ease,” the envoy said.

Despite her proclivity to learn new languages, she regrets her inability to speak Arabic. “Despite the fact that my second posting was to Syria, I was not able to learn Arabic”, Polano rued. She attributed this to the fact that she was busy raising her two sons who were born subsequently. The first son was born in Argentina and the second while she was posted in Syria and handling diplomatic affairs of Lebanon, too.

“With two toddlers under my care, I was the busiest mother in the world, and finding time to learn Arabic was next to impossible,” she said. After Damascus, she was posted to Sweden again for three years, only to have her next posting in Bonn, Germany. As it is said for diplomats that their bags must be kept always packed up, she left for Germany.

Every career diplomat has to wait and gain enough experience to become an ambassador one day. The red-letter day for Polano came when she successfully finished her tenure in Germany. “I received a call one day from HR department asking me if I am ready to become an ambassador to Mexico. I immediately said yes to the offer,” she told Qatar Tribune.

As one who has seen life and culture across various regions of the world, I asked the ambassador to share her experiences of different cuisines and culture to which she responded in these words: “Each country is unique in terms of its culture, food habits, social and political situations and so on that it is a new learning lesson every day.” According to the diplomat, it was a wonderful experience to be in Argentina, especially for a European like her to find a cool blend of European culture encapsulated in a Latin American setting. The land has an abundance of almost everything—the best meat, pampas, etc. 

Syria and Lebanon are so rich in Middle-Eastern culture with a cuisine that is so amazing and full of nutrition. “I have developed a great liking for all the salads that are served here from Humus to Tabula and Baba Ganush, to name a few. Also, lamb and fish preparation in the Arab world is so different. On the whole, it is a healthy food with plenty of salads served fresh.

On the cultural side, Syria has a lot to offer with its ancient civilization and places of great historic significance such as Palmyra, Maaloula and Latakia. In Lebanon, one gets to see a strong influence of European culture with its expensive downtown area offering every luxury that one can think of.

Polano considers herself lucky to have chosen a career in diplomacy that has taken her to all corners of the world. According to her, there is no learning better than travelling to new places and meeting different people and sharing knowledge with one another.

{"preview_thumbnail":"https://cdn.flowplayer.com/6684a05f-6468-4ecd-87d5-a748773282a3/i/v-i-4…","video_id":"407139c7-debb-44ae-b512-f10e9989bb1b","player_id":"8ca46225-42a2-4245-9c20-7850ae937431","provider":"flowplayer","video":"10 Most Stable Arab Countries"}