White paper on opportunities and challenges in the northern areas. Closer commercial co-operation with Russia in the north

A white paper entitled Opportunities and Challenges in the North (Report No. 30 (2004-2005) to the Storting) was presented to the Council of State today. In the white paper, the Government gives an account of the new opportunities and challenges Norway is facing in the northern areas and how it intends to address them with a view to securing political stability and sustainable development in the region.

The Russian economy has seen development in the past few years, including in the north, and the commercial framework conditions in the country have improved. This also provides new opportunities for commercial co-operation between Norway and northwestern Russia. Norwegian investment in that part of Russia is now on the rise, and trade has increased significantly in the past two years. An effective northern areas policy must create conditions that sustain this positive trend.

“One of the challenges will be taking advantage of the opportunities for increased employment and economic growth in the northernmost counties now being created by the economic growth and reforms in Russia,” said Foreign Minister Jan Petersen. “The business sector itself must take responsibility for developing active cross-border commercial co-operation in the north. Experience so far shows, however, that the authorities have to assist by opening doors and laying the groundwork. Nonetheless, good, stable framework conditions for commercial activities in Russia are essential if we are to see an appreciable increase in Norwegian investment in the country.”

The authorities have various tools for encouraging economic co-operation. Innovation Norway is managing an investment fund for northwestern Russia and one for the country as a whole. The Industrial Development Corporation of Norway, SIVA, operates an industrial park in Murmansk. In order to succeed, small actors will still need the support provided by such tools for a long time to come.

In view of the new opportunities for commercial co-operation between Norway and Russia in the north, not least as regards future oil and gas extraction in the Barents Sea, the Government will, in co-operation with Innovation Norway, seek to establish a new position for a commercial officer at the consulate general in Murmansk as a trial arrangement. The Government will, in co-operation with the Norwegian Confederation of Business and Industry, assist in promoting Norwegian companies, particularly those from Northern Norway, in northwestern Russia. In the light of the increase in the transport of goods and services across the Norwegian-Russian border in Sør-Varanger, the Government will also propose to the Russian authorities that the opening hours be extended and customs procedures expedited at both countries’ border control stations at Storskog.