Torbjörn Magnusson was elected to be part of SwedCham Hong Kong’s Board at the Chamber’s last Annual General Meeting. Since then he has taken up the position as Chair of the Sustainability Committee and in a recent article, SwedCham speaks to Torbjörn about what he does and what made him engage in SwedCham HK.
Torbjörn Magnusson is the Area Director for the Swedish company HL Display in Asia, which helps retailers equip their stores for a better shopping experience in a sustainable way. Torbjörn explains that the company aims to make retailing in general and grocery retailing specifically an experience rather than a transaction.
“This is actually an important mission for the future; all societies, especially after covid, need a vibrant scene in which people get out of their homes and offices to interact with each other. To provide physical shopping that holds an edge over online [shopping] is an integral part of getting back to socializing and interacting after Covid, instead of hunkering down at home in front of a screen,” Torbjörn says.
According to Torbjörn, Swedcham is a great platform to join ranks with other like-minded companies and individuals to help Hong Kong and China on the journey of improving sustainability by influencing both policy direction and public opinion. “Swedcham is also a great networking platform and provides many engaging social activities,” he adds.
“I believe the best way to ensure sustainable development is to make it economically viable for companies to market and sell sustainable offerings. Sustainable offerings today often come at a price premium vs the less sustainable offerings (because they consume our common resources that, for the moment, are not adequately charged for). My commitment to SwedCham’s Sustainability Committee stems from influencing policy direction, public opinion, and consumer preferences since it’s the best way to motivate the necessary price premium and make it economically viable to sell sustainable services and products. As we build scale, prices will decrease, and sustainable alternatives and solutions will be more accessible and affordable,” Torbjörn says.
Read the full interview here