THE TERROR ATTACKS BEGUN late Wednesday night at the railway station CST in Bombay. Suddenly a group of men started shooting and throwing grenades towards the travelers. At least seven different locations in the city were affected for example the big hotels The Tai Mahal, The Oberoi Trident and Marriot which all are located internationally as well. A couple of hospitals were affected too. These attacks resulted in 190 people dead and 295 injured according to the catastrophe authority in the city.
The terrorists attacked Bombay´s business district. Throughout the years, India has become an even more important market for Swedish companies and there are now 115 affiliated companies established in the country.ANDERS SJÖBERG WHO IS THE MINISTER on questions regarding politics and economy and also works at the Swedish Embassy in New Dehli was very concerned about the situation when establishing Abroad spoke to him on Friday
- We are in the middle of an ongoing crisis situation where individuals are not safe. Due to this situation the Foreign Department has now warned Swedes to travel to Bombay unless “it is necessary.” However, this is just a warning from the Foreign Department but they want to assure that Swedes are aware of the risks.
- Be sure to review your travel insurance since the insurance companies may have limitations if the Foreign Department advised against travelling, Anders Sjöberg points out.
HOW THESE ATTACKS WILL affect India, which has become a popular market among international investors, Anders Sjöberg has yet to confirm.
- We have to wait a couple of more days before we are able to draw any conclusions from the short and long term perspective. However, it is obvious that this will affect India one way or another. It is possible that these attacks will result in that India will be even more religious as a nation.
MAGNUS PRIM WHO IS THE EXECUTIVE at SEB in Asia is also careful about jumping to conclusions at this point. He is questioning whether this is just the beginning of several upcoming attacks or if things will slow down.
- It will be important to know if this was the only attack or if there are more to come. If this was the only one, I don´t think India´s economy or the Swedish companies located in the area will be affected in the long term.
However, Magnus Prim believes that this situation will affect the number of people choosing India as a holiday resort.
INDISKA IS A chain store with close to 80% of the manufacturing located
in India and has an office in Bombay. These terror attacks will not affect their investments in India.
- Naturally we get worried when things like this happen but at the same time this is something that could happen anywhere in the world. We are in touch with our office in Bombay and none of our co-workers are hurt says Johanna Gyllebäck who is the PR and information officer at Indiska.
A business trip to India is planned in February of 2009 for a number of buyers. Johanna Gyllebäck says that they have no intensions on cancelling this trip.
- However, this week we will sit down with our emergency group and discuss upcoming trips. It feels good to have a plan to make sure everything goes as smoothly and safely as possible.
SIX HOURS AFTER THE ATTACK the CST train station opened again. Both the domestic and international airports are opened and there are no problems at the moment according to the information the Swedish Embassy has access to. Early Saturday morning, Swedish time, the police chief in Bombay stated that everything is under control.
Emelie Ring