Welcome Samira Grylin-Allalou to portugal!

My name is Samira Grylin-Allalou and I am the Country Manager of Business Sweden Portugal and Spain, and the Trade and Invest commissioner to Spain. Last August I packed up everything and moved to Madrid with my husband and two children, four and six years old. It has been, and still is, an adventure for the entire family, but despite the challenging global times, we are really enjoying this move and the opportunities it has brought upon us.  

This is not my first time living abroad, I have lived on several continents both as a student, volunteer, and worker. I spent almost ten years in the United States where I studied at university and worked as a management consultant in New York. Following those years, my interest in women’s empowerment and rights brought me to Cambodia, where I spent a year as a volunteer for a women’s rights organization.

After over ten years abroad it was time to move back home, to Sweden and Stockholm to work with business development in various industries and organisations, from a small entrepreneurial company to Sweden’s largest hotel chain and then onwards to a property development and management company. I feel like everything I’ve done and learned on my journey brought me to where I am today. It is a privilege to work for an organisation that supports Swedish companies in their growth and global expansion in the way Business Sweden does.  

I’m excited to continue to be great support to Swedish companies interested in the Portuguese market and help Portuguese companies to invest and expand in Sweden. I can’t wait to go visit Portugal once everything settles, to learn even more about this lovely country on the Atlantic coast.

/Samira Grylin-Allalou