The Norwegian ambassador, Mr Tarald Brautaset, addressed the NBCC North-East at its inaugural meeting 5 February at the Civic Theatre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
My Lord Mayor, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, thank you for inviting me to address NBCC North-East at its inaugural meeting tonight.
Over the last four years, I have been privileged to observe the metamorphosic progress of change at the NBCC in London that the President has just described. Only a few years ago, this was an organisation almost on its deathbed, but now it is a focused and relevant institution.
I would therefore like to pay tribute to you, Mr. President, and to the General Manager and her team for your very hard work over the last few years. You set yourselves high goals and you have succeeded. Tonight's opening of NBCC North East testifies to that.
Over this same period, the Norwegian Foreign Service and the Embassy have changed as well. We have been and we are continuously adapting to new challenges, new expectations, new patterns of cooperation and communication on a global scale.
As a consequence we have recently reorganised our toolbox on the national level and merged four organisations into one. The Norwegian Trade Council, the Norwegian Tourist Board, the Regional Development Fund and the Consultative Office for Inventions no longer exist as such. A new umbrella organisation has been created under the name Innovation Norway.
On the local level, we are now in the process of integrating the representatives of Innovation Norway into the Embassy. We have worked very closely with these four organisations in the past. In the future, the Embassy and Innovation Norway will work even more closely together. This also reflects the importance we attach to trade-related activities within the Embassy. This process of integration should be completed by 1st May.
What then is the relationship between the NBCC and the Embassy going to be in the future?
I can only see increased cooperation, closer contact and a growing number of joint activities. But at the same time, we have to be clear about our respective identities and functions.
To me personally, it is important to be serving on the NBCC's Advisory Board . This enables me to follow and to appreciate the business community's views and perspective on current trade-related issues.
Likewise, it is important for the Embassy to have the NBCC included in our "Team Norway", as the NBCC contributes to our discussions from its unique perspective.
In the future, the input from NBCC North East will play an equally important part here.
Against this background, I look forward to a constructive cooperation and increased activity to the benefit of Norwegian-British trade relations in the years ahead.
Thank you.
Local newspaper icNewcastle reports of the NBCC initiative's first success.
"Oslo-based software firm Fronter has become the first company to move into the Norwegian Collaboration Centre based in the Fabriam Centre in North Tyneside. The firm is looking to set up a permanent home in the North-East, employing local workers to supply its virtual learning environment software in a contract to 100,000 school pupils and teachers across England."
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