OREANDA-NEWS. November 21, 2011. The II Russian-Norwegian Business Forum was held at the RF CCI Congress Center at 6, Ilyinka Street.

RF CCI President Sergey Katyrin opened the forum’s plenary meeting and addressed the delegates.

This is the second joint business forum, Sergey Katyrin said. The first one was held in Norway last year and drew keen attention of the business communities and the public in both countries. Russia and Norway share a centuries-old history. At present the high level of political relations is reinforced with a worthy level of economic contacts. Business cooperation is developing, and investments are reciprocal.  There is a vast potential of interaction between big, medium and small companies, and regular meetings similar with this business forum help use it.

President of the Norwegian-Russian Chamber of Commerce Thomas Michelet also greeted the audience.  He enumerated the areas in which Russian-Norwegian cooperation was particularly active and stressed the need for broadening contacts between small and medium business of Russia and Norway. Norway and Russia are close as never before, Thomas Michelet said. In his opinion, the two states have broad cooperation vistas in the Arctic region, from oil and gas to new maritime routes and aquaculture.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister, Cochairman of the Russian-Norwegian Commission for Economic, Industrial, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Viktor Zubkov addressed the forum.

Norway is our reliable and important partner in the North, Viktor Zubkov said. Bilateral trade shows a steady upward trend; it topped USD 2 billion in 2010 and exceeded USD 1.7 billion in the first seven months of this year. Most of the Russian exports to Norway are raw materials, so it is necessary to promote highly processed products, machines and so on. Most of Russian imports from Norway are fish and seafood.

Norwegian direct amassed investments in the Russian economy stand at USD 2 billion. Telenor, Statoil and some other Norwegian companies are successfully doing business in Russia. Norwegian companies also operate in the printing and hospitality businesses and in the banking sector. The sides are stepping up cooperation in the production of hydrocarbons, in particular, in the circumpolar areas where Russia and Norway plan joint geological survey and mineral development. Viktor Zubkov thinks that Nordic environmental problems must also be solved together. Bilateral agreements enable sustainable development of cooperation, Viktor Zubkov concluded.

Norwegian Trade and Industry Minister Trond Giske also dwelt on bilateral cooperation. The visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Norway in 2010 was a breakthrough for business cooperation, and it is important to maintain the dynamics of mutual investments on steady framework terms. It is also necessary to develop border cooperation. The minister gave a brief presentation of the Norwegian economy and noted, in particular, the big potential of its shipbuilding industry. Business meetings similar with this business forum are of paramount importance and they should grow in number, he said.

Russian Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina dwelt on the Russian economic condition and stressed that the Russian state debt amounted to approximately 10% GDP despite the global crisis that naturally had an effect on the Russian economy, while European countries had manifold larger debts; besides, Russia’s GDP grew by 4.2% in the first nine months of the year.

Elvira Nabiullina described the Russia-Norway cooperation potential as colossal. It is necessary to develop cooperation in traditional sectors, such as telecommunications, shipbuilding and aquaculture. The Russian focus on infrastructure and transport gives large opportunities for interaction. Small and medium business of Russia and Norway is a special cooperation stratum, the minister said, adding that a lot was still to be done by joint efforts.

Statoil Russia President Jan Skogen, Chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Development Management Board Igor Jurgens, Telenor Group Senior Vice-President, Telenor Russia Head Ole Bjorn Sjulstad, Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise Executive Director for Industrial Affairs Petter Brubakk and Innovation Norway Executive Vice-President Finn K. Aamodt took the floor at the meeting.

Five roundtable sessions followed the forum’s plenary meeting, among them, “Oil and Gas”, “Fisheries and Aquaculture”, “Research and Innovation”, “Energy Efficiency. Cooperation within Electrical Power and Construction Sectors” and “ICT”.