Ladies and gentlemen,

I’m delighted to be in Sydney this morning – in this vibrant, modern city, with its spectacular architecture and natural beauty. And having lunch with so many distinguished business representatives from Norway and Australia makes it even more pleasant.

This is my first visit to Australia and it is also the first time a Norwegian Prime Minister has visited your beautiful country. One of my main objectives is to promote a closer political dialogue with my Australian counterpart. Another, but equally important one, is to foster closer economic co-operation and business relations between our two countries.

In our increasingly globalised world, borders and geographical distance no longer have the same importance. Norway – like Australia – has an open, export-oriented economy, on which our welfare system is founded. And this is why Norway, together with Australia, actively promotes an open trade regime through the World Trade Organisation.

The WTO rules help trade to flow smoothly and provide countries with a fair and constructive mechanism for settling disputes over trade issues. The commercial aspect of globalisation and the further liberalisation of world trade are opening up new markets and new opportunities all across the world.

Australia is a large and interesting market for Norwegian industry. Some large Norwegian companies have been here for many years. However, the number is limited, and we would like to see it increase. I trust that your presence here will pave the way for further collaboration and a further strengthening our economic ties.

Although Norway and Australia are so far apart geographically, we are closely linked in terms of our values, our culture and our love of the outdoors - probably some of the many reasons why so many Norwegians feel at home in Australia. The Norwegian community in Australia now numbers around 10 000 people. Many have found a permanent home in Australia; others are here on business.

These similarities also make it easy to do business with each other, and I am confident that this visit will result in new contacts and business partnerships between our countries.

Currently Australia is also the favourite destination for Norwegian students overseas, and at present there are more than 4000 of them studying here. This will certainly help to establish networks between current and future Norwegian and Australian generations. It is also an excellent platform for further co-operation on research and development between Norwegian and Australian universities. This in turn will have a positive impact on the commercial co-operation between our two countries.

Among the larger, well-established Norwegian companies in Australia are Norske Skog, which has a significant involvement in the forestry industry; the offshore and engineering company Aker Kvaerner; Det Norske Veritas, which is one of the world leading ship classification companies, and Wilh. Wilhelmsen, the well known shipping company. In the defence and military sector, Kongsberg was rated the best foreign supplier by the Australian Ministry of Defence two years ago.

These companies and their success are an inspiration to other companies and future business relations between our two countries. A recent newcomer is Tandberg Telecom, and a couple hours ago I had the pleasure of opening their new head office here in Sydney. Another is the furniture producer Ekornes, which will open a flagship store in Sydney in June through its partner Scansin.

This trend continues a tradition that started a long time ago with shipping, and later expanded into the fields of engineering, offshore oil and gas production, defence, forestry and paper mills and maritime services, and now into newer, untraditional areas like telecommunications, software and biotechnology.

Like Australia, Norway has been blessed with rich natural resources – such as oil and gas, minerals, hydropower, forests and fisheries. These are still important pillars of our economy. What we are increasingly realising, however, is that relying on raw materials is not a sufficient basis for future welfare and growth. In order to be competitive in a globalised economy, we have to focus on enhancing our knowledge-based industries, on commercialising our research and development, and making our companies internationally competitive.

I believe there is great potential for Norwegian-Australian partnerships. Our common expertise in some sectors, our complementary knowledge in others, will open the way for new opportunities in business and research - But we must work actively to further expand the co-operation and business relations.

So what can we do to facilitate more R&D, business partnerships and co-operation between our two countries?

First of all, we must continue to actively promote the liberalisation of world trade and international economic co-operation. This will provide a predictable and stable framework for business.

Secondly, we must increase our awareness and knowledge of each other and each other’s markets. In this respect, the students will constitute an important resource for the future. This is closely related to my third point:

Success stories. We must provide conditions that encourage frontrunners – successful companies that can serve as an example and inspiration to others.

Companies that show that Norwegian and Australian expertise gives results. We have quite a few of such companies here today.

And finally, we need you. Governments can, and will, provide good framework conditions, serve as door openers, create meeting places and be facilitators – but the rest is up to you.

Today’s business luncheon is an opportunity for you to meet, exchange information, get to know each other, build relations and explore new business opportunities.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Building on existing partnerships and developing new ones are the key to success in today’s world. We in Norway and Australia must build on our common ground, and take advantage of our differences to complement each other. Business partnerships and co-operation bring countries and people closer together, to their mutual advantage.

I am confident that events like this will fuel the process of economic co-operation and lay the foundation for more trade and investment between our two countries, to the benefit of our economies, our societies and our people.