Seminar om kritiske mineraler ved den norske ambassaden i Washington DC

                                                                                         * Sjekkes mot fremføring Ambassador,

Dear everyone,

It is a great honour to be here.

I want to thank The Norwegian Embassy, NorCham and NADIC for organizing this event.

Thank you for promoting economic cooperation between our two countries – not just here today, but every day.

Even though an ocean divides us, Norway and the United States share a strong and enduring friendship. 

By joining forces, we have accomplished great things.

Now we are facing great challenges.

Many critical value chains are concentrated in a few countries, making supply chains more vulnerable.

Political risk and market manipulation are realities for many companies in the critical minerals space.

The world is also more unstable than it has been for many years.

I believe our cooperation will benefit our economic and national security.

By working together, we can make our supply chains more secure.

This will make them stronger and less dependent on single countries.

And at the same time, we need to speed up the green transition.

Secure and steady access to critical raw materials is key.

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Norway is rich in many of the minerals essential for various industries, including technology, defense, and renewable energy.

Last week I visited “Fensfeltet” in the middle of Norway, that is proven to have the largest occurrence of rare earth minerals in Europe.

Already, we are proud to be the largest exporter of cobalt to the US, and the third largest exporter of nickel.

We are also the largest producer of aluminum and graphite in Europe.

And the second largest of titanium minerals.

In short: Norway can provide a steady and reliable supply of critical minerals to the US.

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Last year The Norwegian Government launched a mineral strategy.

Our ambition is clear: we want Norway to have the world’s most sustainable mineral industry.

Suatainability is key for social licence to operate.

Without social licence we will have no new mines in western countries.

This is how we can secure western value chains.

Being a transparent and open economy, combined with our highly skilled workforce and access to renewable energy, Norway can provide secure and sustainable supply chains for critical raw materials.

But to fully realise this potential, we must work closely with our international partners, friends and allies.

In that respect, I am very pleased that Norway and the US recently signed a memorandum of cooperation on critical raw minerals.

This cooperation will help develop secure and transparent critical mineral supply chains.

It will benefit our companies and improve economic security.

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Dear friends,

At a global level we see partnerships and alliances being established to secure supply chains for critical raw materials.  

Norway and the US have much to gain by working closely together as trusted allies.

Thank you for your attention.

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