Norway strengthens cooperation with Israel on research and innovation

During Mr Brende's visit to Israel on 12 January, he and Prime Minister Netanyahu signed a joint declaration of intent on cooperation between Norwegian and Israeli research and innovation groups.

International research and innovation cooperation is an important part of the Government's efforts to achieve economic restructuring and growth.

'Norway and Israel have leading research groups in a number of areas of mutual interest, and will therefore have a lot to offer one another. This declaration reflects our aim to increase research cooperation and knowledge exchange to the benefit of both countries. It is also a concrete manifestation of the Government's efforts to strengthen bilateral relations with Israel,' Mr Brende said.

The declaration refers to Israel's and Norway's association agreements to Horizon 2020, the EU framework programme for research and innovation. The aim of Horizon 2020 is to promote excellence in research, help find solutions to the challenges facing our societies today, and create a more competitive business sector. Norway and Israel will cooperate in the areas they have agreed on. Funding for joint projects is available through programmes under the Research Council of Norway, the Eurostars programme under Eureka, Horizon 2020 and various Israeli funding schemes.