On September 10th, an online conference "Conditions and prospects for trade and economic cooperation between Russia and the Kingdom of Norway" took place.
According to the moderator of the event, the Vice President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Suren Vardanyan, the event was held so that both Russian and Norwegian colleagues could present and ascertain the prospects for cooperation between the two countries, see the existing problems and the likelihood for their solution.
“The best practices for us are also very interesting," the moderator said. In his opinion, Norway and Russia have a lot in common in organizing and conducting business, as well as in the problems that need to be solved. There are many common projects in the North.
Mr. Vladimir Bagreev, the Chairman of the MCCI Commission on Foreign Economic Cooperation with partners in Norway, expressed his regret that cooperation with Norway is currently at a low level, despite the fact that Norway is involved in many interesting and useful endeavours and projects.
"Suffice it to say that only 1% of Norway's not too large a territory contains arable land. The rest is rocks, fjords, and grass. At the same time, Norway provides 52% of its own food products," said Mr. Bagreev, and emphasized that the field for cooperation between our countries is enormous.
Mr. Alexander Anikin, theTrade Representative of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of Norway, gave a brief overview of trade relations between Russia and the Kingdom of Norway. He agreed that "the country is beautiful and there are many opportunities here". And as for the low level of cooperation, according to Mr. Anikin, there exists a discrepancy between the views of business and politicians for creating constructive and progressive relations between the two countries.
This happens to be very much of an obstacle. "I believe that business interests will be a positive factor in building future relationships. In any case, the trade mission will try to make the most of today's opportunities to promote Russian technologies here and ease the access of Norwegian businesses to localize their production in RF and export products to other countries by utilizing this method of localization”, Mr. Anikin assured.
He stressed the fact that the main constraint to develop trade is the lack of required certificates for Russian manufacturers, as well as the absence of direct sustainable supply chains.
Mr. Recdal Hans-Olav, the Project Director of the Norwegian-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NRCCI), described the current practices of Norwegian-Russian cooperation and prospects for mutually beneficial partnership.
He made a point that he highly appreciated the cooperation with the Chambers of Commerce of Russia and spoke about the priority areas of NRCCI’s activity. "We can say that all we do is B2B: business meetings, meetings, partner search programs, industry projects, top-level events and regional events in Norway and Russia" . Mr. Hans-Olav provided a detailed presentation of the marine cluster “Meuré”, whose main focus is Russia.
The Head of “Innovation Norway”, Mr. Roger Martinsen, spoke about the possibility of cooperation in the field of ocean - related industries. "Application of artificial intelligence, analysis of large data, autonomous solutions, sensor systems, drones, robotics, material technology, which is very strong in Russia - all this is already working and used in new industries!” - pointed out the speaker, regarding the association of the two countries.
Murdal Kristen, Regional Director for Russia and Eastern Europe of "AKVA group" told about the possibilities of Russian aquaculture sector.
An example of successful practice of Russian-Norwegian cooperation in the field of green and blue technologies was given by Margarita Ivanova, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aqua Fluid Biotech Group AS.
Vladimir Efremov, Executive Director of the Basalt Pipe Trading House, spoke about the project, which may have a very promising direction for the development of cooperation between the two countries. He presented the composite wave "Grebenka", which is free from the disadvantages of traditional solutions and has several advantages, including cheapness, resistance to sea water, fast installation, environmental friendliness and durability. And "comb" does not spoil the view of the water area.
Summing up the conference, Suren Vardanyan once again stressed that there are many unused opportunities for further cooperation between Russia and Norway.