As delivered

Introduction by PM Støre

Honorable Prime Minister Modi, Your Royal Highness, members of the business community, on both sides of the tables,

It's a great pleasure and honor for me to be with you – all of you, today – in the beautiful Oslo Town Hall, to take part in this summit, which is hosted by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Cecilie Myrseth. – Thank you, Cecilie.

And even though there are huge differences of size, in many dimensions – one might think of India and Norway as very different countries – but this day really proves that we are strong partners with complementary advantages.

And that is what we are here to explore, the complementarity.

The trade and economic partnership that we concluded between India and the EFTA countries is really a landmark agreement and a solid framework for strengthening the ties between our countries. And we feel, in all modesty, that we – the EFTA countries – have a little advantage on the rest of Europe, moving ahead with our agreement.

So – the next step, Prime Minister, is to translate this into concrete cooperation, new jobs, more welfare, more progress in trade, investment, business to business, and also in the fields of innovation and technology development.

So – let me turn directly to you, business leaders, and we will have our exchange. What we intend to do here is to have some exchange with representative companies that really have made an experience. And I will start with Orkla.

 

(Then there were business presentations from both Norway and India.)

 

Concluding remarks by PM Støre

 Let me try to make a few reflections in the end. I would also like to commend the embassies; they are important bridges between our countries, and also Innovation Norway doing an important work from the Norwegian side.

One thing that I have discussed with Prime Minister Modi today is the fact that countries who believe in a rule-based order – which is not static – it is always developing and responding to what is happening around. But countries who believe in certain standards and a certain stability in trade and geopolitics and how countries deal with each other, they have to move closer – together.

Because there are – outside there, in the global community – key players who are what I would say weaponizing certain key chains, weaponizing to some extent diplomacy, trade, value chains, critical rare materials. And in that perspective, I believe that countries who normally have had a normal state-to-state relationship, they have to think through how this world operates and potentially move closer.

And what I appreciate with your visit, Prime Minister, to Norway; what we have concluded today in numerous agreements; many of the key players from the Norwegian sides are now engaged. The Norwegian government is very much committed to follow-up that and deepen also the political contacts.

We have a Nordic-Indian summit tomorrow. We are one of five Nordic countries. We are small in population, but we have a long coast, as I have discussed. I think this is the only thing in Norway which is larger than in India. We have a longer coastline. But we have to use our advantages where we have them.

So, I think that supply chain's vulnerabilities become more visible with disruptions – ranging from pandemics to war and geopolitical fragmentation. So, when Norway now is reaching out, as we say, to hedge our security, we do that with our Nordic partners, with key European partners, and I state today to you – that we also do it with India.

I believe that today's discussion, the ones you've had before we came, and the ones we've heard now, really demonstrates that we have engagement that can build on expanding this. The trade agreement we have signed is unique. We have never made that kind of commitment in terms of expanding our investment, creating a million jobs in India over time. So, that is where we are now, and we are very happy that we get off to such a good start.

I'm left with three main impressions that I'd like to share with you: First, I believe we are natural partners, actually complementary partners in a certain range of areas, and the cooperation is already extensive. And this conference, I think, is bringing us forward.

We have come together in parallel sessions. We've been into sectors like med-tech, health, maritime cooperation, security, batteries, storage systems, digitalization, wind energy – all very important.

And we have this green partnership, which can frame what we do as new proposals and sectors come into play.

Several MOUs and business-to-business-agreements have been signed, and many of them are also in the intersection of research and the business sector. Let me say, Prime Minister – you told me today that in India you are opening one university every week – so, we have something to put our ambitions in.

I'm pleased to see that many of these agreements are focused on very result-oriented scientific cooperation – and that is good. That's the first impression.

The second one is that this cooperation will create value and jobs in both countries. We have certain ambitions to contribute in India, but it's important for me to say also to the Norwegian public that this will also help the job solidity and creation in Norway.

We work together to reduce emissions, improve health care, and contribute to supply chains and security of transactions.

And third is of course the potential for further cooperation. So, we don't draw a final line here. I think that the trade and economic partnership agreement is an open door, and we now have enough contact points across these tables that we wish to see expanded by future visits, future interchanges, to add new value to all this.

So, colleagues, I think that as we observe the world, the principle of free trade is being tested. I think we believe in it, but it is hard. I know that India played, together with Norway, a constructive role at the last WTO meeting, trying to keep the rule-based system at least floating. But we have to put trust into cooperation, science, and higher education. And by working together in research, higher education, sharing technological advantages, some competition in between, we can really move forward. – Business and research can go hand in hand. So, with this, Prime Minister, honorable guests, thank you. The floor is yours.

See more from the meeting (video) here.