Opening of Royal Norwegian Embassy

Mr. Foreign Minister,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Nearly a quarter century ago, on 25 November 1971, the governments of the Kingdom of Norway and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam declared that they had agreed to establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. Our ambassador in Beijing, later Bangkok, was accredited to Hanoi, while your ambassador in Stockholm was accredited to Oslo.

Since last May, Norway has had an ambassador residing in Hanoi. As of today, the ambassador and his staff have a state-of-the-art chancery from which to operate. With the diplomatic infra-structure already in place, relations between our two countries have entered a new and more active phase.

Norway wants to be present as Vietnam, the world's 13th most populous nation, is pursuing reform, expanding its network of international contacts, assuming its place among the Association of South East Asian states, and emerging as a new Asian dragon. We are eager to include Vietnam in Norway's strategic plan for Asia. This plan aims at deepened cooperation with the countries of Asia. We know that we stand to gain and have a lot to learn from closer contact with Vietnam and its Asian neighbors.

Here to assist the ambassador in Hanoi, are a multi-purpose first secretary, a representative of the Norwegian Trade Council, a representative of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, as well as clerical and support staff with a can-do attitude.

The task of the Embassy is four-fold: to strengthen the political dialogue with Vietnam, to promote development cooperation, to promote trade and investments, and to increase cultural exchange. What this amounts to, is promoting Norwegian interests through a genuine partnership with Vietnam.

I believe we have technology and knowledge which are of importance to Vietnam's ongoing process of reform. We offer to share our competence and experience with you, providing some of the new skills necessary under new circumstances. We can assist you in the reeducation of private and public sector managers. One of our oil companies, Statoil, is already training employees of Petro Vietnam. One of our institutions of higher learning, the Norwegian School of Management, has already established a Master's program in change management together with the National Economic University in Hanoi. Next year, a group of Vietnamese diplomats will receive training in Oslo by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I look forward to a dynamic relationship between Norway and Vietnam. It is a great pleasure for me to be able to open the Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi.