NATCHEZ &045; Preliminary plans are for about 40 people, including some in tourism-related fields, to visit Natchez next spring and for at least Swedish entrepreneur to visit Natchez before the end of this year to explore setting up a business here.

That’s according city Grants Coordinator Brent Brinegar, who visited the coastal city of Sundsvall, Sweden, the week of Aug. 21 with Mayor Phillip West and Tammi Gardner, a tourism commissioner and director of the Downtown Development Association.

City officials are working to form a &uot;sister city&uot; relationship with Sundsvall that will hopefully lead to more tourists visiting, and more entrepreneurs investing in, the Natchez area.

A similar relationship between Madison and Solleftea, Sweden resulted earlier this year in a regional office of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce being located in Madison.

And Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler accompanied Swedish Gov. Gerhard Larsson to Natchez in April to visit with West, a visit that eventually resulted in plans for a Natchez group to come to Sweden.

During their August visit to Sundvall, a city of almost 95,000 people that serves as a regional center for timber and other industries, the Natchez delegation met with government and business officials about possible investment in and visits to Natchez.

Such investments could include establishing what Brinegar termed &uot;destination-related service businesses&uot; such as spas.

&uot;It’s all too preliminary at this point to give details,&uot; Brinegar said. &uot;But at least one (business owner) is coming to Natchez Š before the end of the year. And we’re in the process of arranging a trip for 40 people from Sweden &045; included some from the tourism industry &045; which we’d like to happen in March.&uot;

In Sweden, it’s not unusual for people to vacation abroad each year for five weeks or more, Gardner said.

Swedish citizens &uot;think nothing of traveling intercontinentally, and they’re interested in trying to get businesses going here, too,&uot; she added.

For more information on Sundvall, visit the Web page

http://www2.sundsvall.se/EngMapp

/EngFrame.htm