Finland and Norway – common challenges in the High North
Historisk arkiv
Publisert under: Regjeringen Stoltenberg II
Utgiver: Utenriksdepartementet
Tromsø, 10 April 2008
Tale/innlegg | Dato: 10.04.2008
Utenriksministeren innledet om Norges og Finlands felles utfordringer i et nordområdeperspektiv, under Finland-Norway Partnering Seminar i Tromsø 10. april. Støre viste blant annet til at tradisjonelle handelsruter i nordområdene har gått nord-sør, mellom regionene i nord og hovedstedene i sør. Han understreket behovet for å styrke samarbeid og handel direkte på tvers av grensene øst-vest i denne regionen.
- Dr Väyrynen, Mr Mayor, Mr Ambassador, dear Finnish and Norwegian friends.
- Happy to see our Finnish friends in Tromsø. I hope you have had a useful and interesting visit to Kirkenes – in the northeast corner of Norway – and here in Tromsø today.
- Very pleased that it was possible to organise this visit by the Finnish business delegation and th
at Dr Väyrynen is heading the delegation. I firmly believe that there is room for closer business cooperation between Norway, Finland and Sweden in the High North. A Swedish delegation headed by Foreign Minister Carl Bildt made a similar visit to Norway last year, and I know that that visit was fruitful. - As you learned in Kirkenes and will hear more about here in Tromsø today, there are a lot of interesting developments taking place in North Norway and neighbouring regions that should mean business opportunities in many sectors such as petroleum, mining, renewable energy, environmental technology and tourism.
- Governments can help create such opportunities, but the business community must consider them and identify concrete, profitable projects. Visits like this provide an opportunity for us to meet colleagues and potential partners, which is one of the reasons I believe they are so important. I would like to commend Finpro and Innovation Norway for organising these events.
- The High North is one of my government’s highest priorities. There are several reasons for this. One is energy. The Barents Sea – both the Norwegian and the Russian part – is becoming an important petroleum province, as this map shows. This is important in a world where energy security is a growing priority. And it is important for Norway to ensure that these resources are exploited in a sustainable way that will boost economic activity in North Norway.
- Another important reason is the environment, including climate change. Researchers tell us that the temperature is rising twice as fast in the Arctic as in the rest of the world. This map shows what is happening to the Arctic ice shelf. In the summer of 2007, scientists discovered that the ice shield was at a record low. If this trend continues, the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free much sooner than is shown on this map. This may have huge, unforeseeable consequences for fisheries, petroleum activities and shipping.
- A third reason for our giving priority to High North issues is, of course, Russia. We share the Barents Sea with Russia. Russia is a close neighbour of both Norway and Finland. We need close cooperation with Russia in questions pertaining to petroleum, fisheries and other aspects of cross-border relations. As I am sure you heard in Kirkenes, interesting developments are taking place in Norwegian-Russian business cooperation.
- Just to illustrate some of the perspectives behind our High North policy. This is a sketch of what the Barents Sea may look like 12 years from now. It is drawn from an industry perspective. We don’t know whether it will turn out to be accurate, but at any rate, it illustrates some of the opportunities and challenges – for us as governments and for you as businesspeople.
- This is our only border crossing with Russia, near Kirkenes. In my view, we must do what we can to make visa and border-crossing procedures more efficient. We are in the process of doing so, and in this process we have learned lessons from our Finnish friends, who have a very efficient Border Guard Service. The aim is to ensure that people engaged in legal cross-border business can do so as easily as possible. I also firmly believe that in the future, we will have a common labour market in the Barents Region. This is why the Norwegian Government will propose changes that will make it easier to recruit workers across the border with Russia.
- An important part of our High North strategy is to promote close dialogue on issues of common interest with neighbours and partner countries. Finland is an important neighbour and partner in Europe – especially on issues related to the High North and Russia.
- Finland has broader experience of economic cooperation with Russia than we have. Happy that you are here. I hope you will share your experience and views with our business community.
- Finland is Norway’s 9th most important trading partner in terms of imports and 14th most important in terms of exports. The figures show that trade between Norway and Finland is increasing. Approximately 125 Norwegian-owned companies are established in Finland, and there is considerable potential for closer business cooperation between our two countries. Advanced technology, construction and logistics, shipbuilding/offshore, mining, tourism, environmental technology, biotechnology and research and development are just a few areas where Norway and Finland complement each other and where there is a great potential for closer business partnerships.
- Traditionally, trade routes in Norway and Finland have gone between the capitals in the south and the regions in the north, and not so much directly east-west in the northern regions. However, the regional business cooperation in the north between Norway, Sweden and Finland is now on the rise.
- Here, I would particularly like to mention the work being done by the associations of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Barents Euro-Artic Region to promote horizontal business partnerships between the regions in the north. The establishment of a “Barents Labour Market” is very interesting in this respect.
- The High North is a region full of challenges and opportunities. As new businesses develop in the region, new opportunities relating to the development of infrastructure and services will follow. Here there is a great potential for close cooperation between our countries. However, I’m aware that various obstacles to doing business across the borders have been causing problems, especially for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
- The Nordic governments are committed to finding ways of eliminating obstacles to trade and freedom of movement between our countries. As you may know, Ole Norrback, former Finnish Minister for Nordic Cooperation and former Ambassador to Norway, has been appointed to head the work of the Nordic Freedom of Movement Forum, which is seeking to address these issues.
- Hope to identify areas of mutual interest in my talks with Dr Väyrynen today. I look forward to hearing his views and analyses. He has an impressing history of dealing with policy and economic issues related to Russia. He was among those who signed the Kirkenes Declaration 15 years ago, and was thus one of the founding fathers of the Barents Cooperation. And he is, of course, from our neighbouring region, Lapland.
- I hope you will enjoy the rest of the programme here today, and that your visit to Finnmark and Troms will have been useful.
- Thank you.