Key business leaders and local government officials from northern Sweden are being helped to develop links with Bradford by visiting the city's Listerhills Science Park today.

Some 16 representatives from the Kalix region are spending three days in Yorkshire as guests of Bradford Council, Yorkshire Forward and Hull Economic Development Agency.

They visited the Newlands Science Park in Hull yesterday and were learning about Yorkshire Forward's ten-year strategy.

Among the firms visiting are Promax, a major leading distributor of electronic components in Scandanavia and CareTech, a company which specialises in developing and marketing safety systems for the elderly and people with disabilities.

The visitors will be told how the Listerhills Science Park has developed, hear about plans for its future growth and visit a number of successful firms there.

Emma Bridge, marketing executive for Yorkshire Forward, said: "These science parks, in which we are partners, give companies immediate access to expertise and facilities not readily available to small organisations.

"Our Swedish visitors operate in key hi-tech industries and we hope, in the long term, to develop closer links with them."

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