Malki: How the RGV can forge strong manufacturing and tech ties with Sweden

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Dr. Mostafa Malki is a professor at UT-Rio Grande Valley and executive director for business development at America’s Additive Foundry Center for Advanced Manufacturing Innovation and Cyber Systems. He is also the founder of Aaron Economic Consulting.

Dr. Malki recently gave a presentation about business opportunities tied to additive manufacturing at the eBridge Center for Business & Commercialization in downtown Brownsville. During the presentation he said there is a great opportunity for the Rio Grande Valley to forge partnerships with manufacturing and technology companies from Sweden.

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The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service interviewed Professor Malki at the conclusion of his presentation.

Asked to tell Guardian readers and viewers about Sweden, Malki said: “Where should I begin? There’s so much to say about Sweden.”

Malki said Sweden is a relatively small country, population wise, but area wise, is very big. It has a population of about ten million.

“It has very low population density, but it has also very big presence in terms of industries and innovation and so on. It’s one of the top countries in the world in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship and so on,” Malki said.

“If we can calculate a ratio of multi-billion-dollar corporations per capita, they are probably the number one country. There are a lot of very big companies that are household names, Volvo, IKEA and Ericsson and so on that are Swedish companies. There are some that are also very big multinational companies, but they’re not very well known because they do business to business type of work.”

Malki visits Sweden a lot. “It’s a very fascinating country, for a very small country to be able to be a major player in manufacturing industry and innovation,” he said.

In his presentation, Malki said he and Dr. James Li, president and endowed professor for manufacturing engineering at UTRGV, visited Sweden, Germany and Switzerland earlier this year. Dr. Li and the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation co-hosted the event at the eBridge Center.

“Sweden was our main stop,” Malki told the Guardian. “I have been going to Sweden for quite some time. I took students to Sweden as part of a study abroad program back in 2012, I believe. But I have an extensive network of partners and collaborators that are serial entrepreneurs and innovators. Also, researchers and CEOs of innovation centers and science sparks. So, I tend to go there at least twice a year.”

Malki said having a tie-up between the Valley and Sweden can benefit both sides.

“They have things that they do very well, and there are things that we do better than anybody else. So, I have these collaborators, these friends of mine, also come at least twice a year to the US to see what we’re doing, and we see what they’re doing. So, we are trying to create a bridge, you know, between us and Northern Europe, not just Sweden, but Sweden is the core, the hub.”

Malki said it might surprise some people to learn the level of investment Swedish companies make in the United States.

“They are the fourth biggest investor in the US, I believe, out of Europe, they may be even higher than that. Because of the country, the population, the size of the market and so on, they tend to incubate something, grow it, and then right after they grow it, they move to bigger markets. They tend to come to New York and London because of the financial markets.”

There is no reason the Valley cannot be on the radar of Swedish tech and innovation companies, Malki argues.

“Most Europeans, most of the world, not just Europeans, when they think of the US, they think of the big cities, New York, LA, Chicago, Miami, the big cities. So, to them, that’s the US. The rest they don’t think too much about, because it’s not really as visible and as big and doesn’t draw a lot of attention,” Malki explained.

“What we wanted to do is introduce, through our network, our region, to show them what we have, the assets, the resources that we have. We are ideally located. We are right on the border. We have a deep seaport. We have a history of manufacturing on both sides of the border, but not too many people know about what we have here.”

Malki says he has friends from Sweden that have visited the Valley multiple times.

“They love the region. One of my closest friends has been here 14 or 15 times right now. We had four people that he led and brought here. These are four businesspeople are looking for business opportunities here, looking to open branches of their businesses here in the US, and they like the region. They realize, this is an ideal place to be, but it’s not very well, (or) advertised.”

Malki specifically referenced a company in the food processing industry and a company that developed technologies to compost and recycle organic waste, especially food waste.

Malki added: “It’s very interesting to be in the Rio Grande Valley because to me, it’s almost like a blank canvas. You know, you go to other areas like Chicago, which is a thriving manufacturing hub, where there are opportunities. We are in a great location, and we have huge potential, especially with having the port, and having our partners on the other side of the border that we can leverage. We have the university and several community colleges that can help prepare the workforce, and with what’s happening with reshoring and Industry 4.0, it’s a great time to be here and be part of launching something that would change the community.”

Editor’s Note: Here is a video recording of the Guardian’s interview with Dr. Malki: