Ladies and Gentlemen,

I marked INTSOK’s Annual Conference in my diary a couple of months ago. As Senior Vice President in your INTSOK partner ABB, I was looking forward to meeting colleagues in the industry and to be on the receiving end for signals from our politicians.

I am here as planned. But in a different capacity!

Let me first of all thank INTSOK for convening this conference and giving me the opportunity to address you in my new capacity. Globalisation and international energy issues are part of my portfolio as State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The world has become more open and integrated. International co-operation has increasingly become an issue of dealing with challenges that are global in character. Countries are growing more and more interdependent.

However, with these developments, we have also become increasingly vulnerable. The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington two months ago show us how vulnerable we all are. The attacks dramatically challenge globalisation at many levels. We must meet these challenges with courage and determination, and agree on proper responses.

The terrorist attacks mobilised global support and grief for the victims. This has led to renewed efforts in international co-operation not only in the fight against terrorism, but in other areas as well. Withdrawal and isolation is not the answer to the challenges of globalisation. The answer lies in improved global governance and strengthened international co-operation.

Norway has joined the international community in condemning the attacks. Countries are united across political and ethnic divisions in efforts to deal with those responsible for these terrible acts.

The UN Security Council has underlined that the terrorist strikes pose a threat to international peace and security. It is prepared to take all necessary measures to meet this threat. Norway and our partners in NATO consider the terrorist strikes in the USA as an assault on all member countries.

Norway has long been one of the most internationally oriented countries in the world, both economically and politically. Our traditions in shipping, more recently the petroleum activity as well as our active international involvement in peace processes easily come to mind.

As a small and open country, it is important for Norway to take active part in international efforts for a better organised world community. We will contribute to strengthening the positive and reducing the negative impacts of globalisation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is collaborating with many sectors of society to establish a strong knowledge base for our policy formation on some of the most crucial global issues. We will prepare a White Paper to the Parliament on the challenges of globalisation and be active in areas and in international fora where we can make a difference.

Global governance is about strengthening international organisations. It is also about a complex web of intergovernmental and private international agreements, treaties, standards and codes. We will focus on a number of related aspects of the global agenda, including

• Trade, finance and economy
• Development and poverty reduction
• Sustainable development and environment
• Global health issues
• Social, labour market issues and human rights
• The new technology and its challenges

We need to build an international society founded on the rule of law with a rule-based system of trade and international economic co-operation. We need to open up our economies and give the developing countries better opportunities to participate in the global economy on an equal basis.

Our open economy gives us to goods, services and capital that we do not produce ourselves. Norway’s participation in the global market and our use of new technology has given us unprecedented economic growth, welfare, opportunities and choices.

Tomorrow, I will leave for Doha as a member of the Norwegian delegation to the Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, who will be heading our delegation at the start of the Ministerial, will address the Storting today and outline our interests and approaches. We would like to see the Doha meeting launching a new round of negotiations that also accommodates the needs and interests of developing countries.

Negotiations within the framework of the WTO on trade in services started early last year. Norway has presented proposals on market access also for a number for energy related services. We have an open market ourselves for energy services. We would like to see others open their markets for our companies as well. To be clear, these negotiations concern trade in services and not ownership of natural resources or our concession systems.

Expertise and impulses from the outside world played a crucial role in developing petroleum activity on the Norwegian continental shelf.

We welcomed the quality segment of the international oil industry and have matured as an oil nation - technologically, commercially and politically.

Norwegian oil companies have mastered the challenges of offshore petroleum activity. Now it is their turn, with their experience and state-of-the-art technology, to look abroad for new ventures. Let me recognise the significance and usefulness of the work that is being carried out by INTSOK in promoting the internationalisation of Norwegian petroleum industry.

Oil and gas are strategic commodities. They play a vital role in fuelling the world economy. Their production and use have environmental consequences as well. History shows how petroleum activity influences, and is influenced by, international politics.

Norway is an industrialised and major petroleum-exporting country. Half of the remaining oil and gas reserves in Western Europe are on our continental shelf. We are providing a substantial contribution to the security of energy supply of our trading partners. We have the political will and the resources necessary to continue to provide for their energy security in a long-term perspective.

Petroleum activity is, thus, not only a domestic concern of great importance to our own economic development. Our national petroleum policy decisions affect also the interests of other countries and thereby our overall political and economic relations with them as well. This gives us a complex range of interests that calls for interplay between energy policy and foreign policy considerations.

We take part in energy policy co-operation within the framework of the International Energy Agency (IEA) together with our main political and trading partners. At the same time, we have important interests in common with other oil-exporting countries both within and outside OPEC.

From our unique position, it has been both a foreign policy and energy policy objective of successive Norwegian governments to promote dialogue between oil-exporting and oil-importing countries. A Norwegian initiative for a meeting of oil-exporting and oil-importing countries at political level in the late 1980s met initial scepticism in important oil-importing countries. However, it has since developed into what is now called the International Energy Forum and is an established international event. The 8th Forum at Ministerial level will take place in Tokyo next year.

In our globalised world, we are all linked in what I would call a "Global Energy Policy Network". Contact and exchange of views are important for mutual understanding of long-term common interests. This network comprises dialogue between countries bilaterally and in international fora at political and expert level. It comprises dialogue and interaction with private industry and other stakeholders as well.

We all have a long-term interest in a sustainable energy future. To that end we need a global energy dialogue that promotes the following objectives:

• greater awareness of the links among energy, environment and economic development,
• greater stability and predictability in market developments,
• prices at a reasonable level for producers and consumers,
• efficient use and environmental objectives, and
• co-operation that reduces the potential for conflict.

The IEA has just published a new study confirming abundant reserves of energy to meet demand well beyond the year 2020. As in the past, the world will still be very much dependent on fossil fuels. Oil is expected to maintain its 40% share of the total energy mix. The consumption of natural gas will increase.

The study underscores that massive investments will be needed to meet increasing demand, not least in the developing countries as they industrialise. Most major oil and gas producers in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America recognise the need for foreign involvement.

From my former job I am very well aware of the challenges that INTSOK and the companies face when going abroad. We know that the rewards can be great. We also know that risks must also be taken. Commercial, technological and sometimes political risks as well.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our embassies abroad are also aware of your challenges. We have close contact with companies and indeed also with INTSOK. The Ministry’s regular meetings with INTSOK are to mutual benefit. We are there to serve you as best we can.

We want to help promote commercial co-operation between companies, not least because this fosters closer international co-operation also in other fields. Norwegian companies and their representatives are in fact effective ambassadors for Norway. Their behaviour abroad has much to do with the image others might have of us as a nation and people.

We expect Norwegian companies to show awareness of their social responsibility in such matters as human rights, environmental issues, regional development and the health and safety of their employees. This is entrenched in Norwegian legislation and business practice. Public opinion now places high demands on, and is watching, the conduct of Norwegian companies operating in other countries.

Violations of ethical standards or human rights are quickly documented and distributed to a worldwide public. A growing number of non- governmental organisations are increasingly professional and know how to use their political influence. Being ethical is therefore not just philanthropic – it is good policy.

Business meets these demands in different ways and knowledge about available ways to go is important. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has, therefore, funded a pilot project on challenges and opportunities in Corporate Social Responsibility assessment. As part of this project, the Centre for Economic Analysis – ECON - has recently produced an "Inventory of global instruments for corporate social responsibility".

It attempts to provide basic information about the major international initiatives currently in action.

It is necessary to understand how the prospects of economic gain can fuel conflict and war. In this respect, the Ministry supports research on economic driving forces in violent conflicts and war. Companies across a wide range of sectors need to incorporate conflict management as an important part of their Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. For the oil industry, I would say such awareness is a must.

The role of the private sector in violent conflict and war will be the topic of the next meeting in the Consultative Body for Human Rights and Norwegian Economic Involvement Abroad, known as KOMpakt.

KOMpakt is coordinated and chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its main purpose is to enhance the common understanding among the relevant Norwegian constituencies in the areas where business and ethics meet in the context of globalisation. KOMpakt Members include representatives from a wide range of sectors, including business and trade organisations, trade unions, non-governmental human rights organisations, research institutions and ministries. A number of major companies also participate in KOMpakt proceedings.

Norway has built an efficient and competitive petroleum industry and a governance system. The co-operation with the oil industry is close and to mutual benefit. This system has secured macro-economic control, prudent resource management and a high focus on health, environment and safety.

Many countries look to Norway and would like to implement changes based on our experience. Exchange of information and experience is an important part of programmes under the bilateral co-operation agreements that Norway has with a number of petroleum producing developing countries. It is also an important element under the institutional co-operation programmes, which The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and other Norwegian institutions are carrying out. Likewise, the access to Norwegian know-how provided to staff in private and public petroleum institutions in developing countries through PETRAD is very valuable.

Institutional co-operation programmes are important elements of Norwegian development co-operation. In the petroleum sector, these programmes are directed at assisting developing countries in modernising the legal framework, to improve the working procedures in regulatory bodies and to implement training. Increased transparency, a level playing field and a more efficient administration can facilitate the growth of the petroleum-producing sector and reduce the scope for unethical practices. Many activities under these programmes require active involvement from Norwegian industry.

In many ways we see that the activities and interests of the petroleum industry and foreign and development policy interests converge. We also see that closer co-operation is needed to coordinate the Norwegian initiatives to the best of all parties. The potential for Norwegian direct investments, Norwegian technology transfer and exports is very large. However, the foreign competition is also hard.

In conclusion, let me again thank INTSOK for arranging this timely conference. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and myself in particular, are looking forward to continued co-operation with INTSOK and partners.