Ladies and Gentlemen, participants at the Interreg IIIB Baltic Sea Region Partner Search Forum,

Introduction
It is a great pleasure to see that so many of you have made it to Tromsø -Northern-Norway, and this first partner search-forum for the Interreg IIIB Baltic Sea Program in Norway - A special welcome to all the participants from the candidate, Russia and Belarus.

But before I start I would like to quote Alexander Dumas: He said once, “ Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives and remembering what one receives. “ I believe this to be true for cooperation too – particularly of international cooperation.

The purpose of this partner search forum is two-fold; one is to present project ideas, facilitate project presentation and partner search. The other is to enhance the integration of the northern part of the Baltic Sea Region into the program, to foster new initiatives especially North-South for regional development. In this context the conditions and specific requirements of relevant EU and national funding will be discussed and explained and how future projects can help implement the objective of sustainable development in the program-area.

The Interreg IIIB Baltic Sea program
The vision for the program is to strengthen economic, social and spatial cohesion in order to reach an increased level of integration in the Baltic region.

The program includes all the countries around the Baltic Sea, but it also includes Belarus and Norway, which do not directly border on the Baltic Sea. To achieve the vision one has in the program concentrated on certain themes - which require transnational cooperation - such as spatial development concepts for energy and tourism, networking between urban centres and urban-rural partnership, transport strategies and access to the information society.

Norwegian participation
One might ask why Norway has chosen to participate in the Interreg IIIB Baltic Sea program and why we have chosen to include Northern Norway in this program. Norway is after all not the most prominent of Baltic Sea powers – even though our historical trading links have been strong.

Generally speaking there are at least two different reasons for Norwegian participation in Interreg programmes:

• Regional development
• Cooperation with the EU, the member states, the candidate countries and our countries and our neighbouring countries in order address common challenges of transnational character

Regional development
A successful regional development policy must be based on the needs of people and business and on the great regional variations in the country.

Participation in this cooperation must be used to open new windows of opportunity for regional development through the exchange of ideas, best practice and finding solutions to common challenges.

Participation in international regional development cooperation has been of great importance for us. The inspiration for the regional development plans came from abroad – from the European Union’s Structural Funds to be more precise. Involvement in international regional development programmes has strengthened the cooperation between regional and local authorities, universities and research institutes and business sectors across borders. It has also strengthened the traditional regional cross border cooperation in the Nordic countries and the cooperation with the European Union on regional development policies. The county authorities have also gained experience in international cooperation – something that is of importance in a Europe and a World, which is becoming more and more integrated.

Traditionally Norwegian international regional development policy has been concentrated on cooperation with the Nordic countries either through the Nordic Council of Ministers or more recently through the participation in cross-border Interreg-programmes. I believe that this will also be the case in the future – but participation in programmes like the Interreg IIIB Baltic Sea program opens new windows of opportunity. We face some common challenges like a scattered population and a harsh climate, common environmental challenges and a wish for further integration of the region. I hope that by participating in the Interreg IIIB Baltic Sea programme that we will be able to get new ideas and find new solutions to some of these challenges – and that Norway and Northern Norway with its considerable experience with some of these challenges will be able to make important contributions to the programme.

Our relationship to EU and adjacent areas
The EEA Agreement is the cornerstone of Norway’s relationship with the EU. It is the most important instrument in Norway’s economic relations with the EU, and it is crucial for Norwegian business interests. Under The EEA Agreement Norway is part of the EU internal market through the implementation of EU rules on exchange of goods and movement of people in Norwegian law. We also cooperate with Union in the field of regional policy – taking care of Norwegian interests – by participating in all the relevant programmes.

The government will maintain a comprehensive engagement vis-à-vis the region’s neighbouring areas. The Government will continue and expand Norway’s participation and influence in the Council of the Baltic Sea States and will intensify bilateral cooperation with the Baltic countries in the political, economic and cultural areas and at people-to people level. The transnational cooperation through Interreg programmes in the Baltic sea region is an important tool in this context. Geographically, the Nordic programmes for the neighbouring areas covers northwest Russia, the Baltic countries and Kaliningrad. The government will:

• Seek to gradually shift the focus on the joint Nordic efforts under the Nordic Council of Ministers to the neighbouring area in Russia
• Seek to improve coordination of efforts in the neighbouring areas in the Barents Council, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the Artic Council, the Nordic Council of Ministers and bilaterally
• Seek to ensure that Norway participates actively in the implementation of EU’s Northern Dimension.

I hope that you will have some enjoyable days here in Tromsø and wish you good luck with your important work. I also hope that we all sometime in the future will be able to remember what we received at this partner search forum.

Thank you for your attention.