One year after Norway became independent in 1905, the Scandinavian country set up a consulate here – a sign of Singapore’s importance as a harbour for Norwegian vessels. Yesterday, 110 years later, Norway’s visiting Prime Minister Erna Solberg paid tribute to the enduring friendship between the two countries, calling Singapore “one of our closest friends in Asia”.Ms Solberg, who was hosted to lunch at the Istana by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said both share a history and a forward-looking economic relationship.
This includes digital services, renewable energy and start-ups with a global future, on top of longstanding ties in maritime and oil and gas.
Mr Lee reaffirmed the close and growing ties between the two countries, and said Norway will host a state visit by President Tony Tan Keng Yam in October.
Singapore, Mr Lee said, has long been “a home away from home” for Norwegian seafarers.
Norway is the sixth-largest contributor to Singapore’s Registry of Ships, while Singapore hosts the largest Norwegian business community in Asia, with nearly 400 companies here, including shipping banks and brokerage firms.
Mr Lee shared with Ms Solberg and her delegation how Dutch economist Albert Winsemius had once wondered aloud as to why he felt an affinity with Singapore and found success here.
Dr Winsemius, Singapore’s economic adviser from 1961 to 1984, concluded that it was because of the Calvinist tradition that emphasised self-reliance and hard work, traits he saw in the pioneer generation.
“A similar mindset applies in northern Europe, to be able to survive long winters, harsh climates, not necessarily fertile lands and to be able to endure, grow and develop a high civilisation,” said Mr Lee. “We need that kind of mindset, and we find kindred souls on the other side of the world and we make common cause together.”
Mr Lee also cited Norway’s foresight and discipline when it discovered large reserves of oil and gas in its continental shelf in the 1960s.
It set up the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, with prudent spending rules that are strictly adhered to.
This is worth learning from, he added: “That ethic of toughness, hard work and prudence is something we admire and hope to emulate in Singapore.”
Ms Solberg visited the Singapore lab of Norwegian firm DNV GL, which worked with Singapore start-up SwarmX to develop an autonomous drone docking station that was launched yesterday.
She also spoke at the Norway- Asia Business Summit, and gave the International Institute for Strategic Studies Fullerton Lecture.
Her three-day visit ends today.
(straitstimes)
However, the purpose of her visit was not only to discuss strategic matters, Ms Skogen was very interested in talking to people who are benefitting directly on the ground from Norwegian support. She therefore visited the Arusha Technical College to experience firsthand vocational and technical training making an impact on the lives of Tanzanians, a biogas project set to benefit local communities with big ambitions to commercialise biogas across Tanzania, and a successful avocado project exporting the high quality fruit to world class supermarkets in the West.Dr Richard Masika, Rector of Arusha Technical College welcomed the Norwegian delegation and gave a presentation where he said, “Through Norwegian support we have been carrying out a feasibility study to develop Kikuletwa Power Station. Built by the Germans in the 1930s it lacked maintenance through nationalisation and ground to a complete halt in the late 1980s.
On Tuesday, Norway began sending refugees and migrants who battled temperatures approaching 30 degrees below zero to cross the country’s Arctic border. The UN criticized Norway’s treatment toward migrants stating this move might send people freezing to death.Mashable reported that 13 people boarded a bus to cross the Russian border after leaving a reception facility in Kirkenes, Norway. Immigration officers confirmed this report and said that the bus left at around 6 pm and eight men had volunteered to go. Sylvi Listhaug, one of the immigration minister, said that the migrants would be taken to Nikel and Murmansk, in Russia.
The United Nations’ top climate change official, Christiana Figueres, welcomed the confirmation today of Norwegian Erik Solheim as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and applauded the work of the programme’s outgoing head.
‘Transatlantic ties are more important than ever as we navigate today’s security policy landscape. Few countries have more in common than Norway and Canada – geographically, in terms of resources, and in what we believe to be important.
‘We were horrified and deeply saddened to receive the news of Wednesday’s terrorist attacks in Baghdad. I would like to convey my deepest condolences to the Iraqi people, who are so often the target of terrorist attacks. The attacks are a clear demonstration of ISIL’s contempt for human life and norms of human decency,’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende.
Norway announced Monday that it would deploy 60 soldiers to train Syrians fighting ISIS, boosting its involvement in the international coalition against the extremists.
Norway is the world´s largest producer of farmed salmon. Tremendous amount of Norwegian salmon is flown daily to the markets in Asia, Middle East and US. The number of intercontinental flights from Norway is increasing to take part of the shipping of Norwegian fish. Today there are direct flights out of Europe from Oslo to New York, Moscow, Istanbul, Dubai, Doha and Bangkok.
The Norwegian government has taken actions to give more Investment opportunities to Sri Lanka in their fish market with the lifting of the ban imposed by the European Union on exports of Sri Lankan fish and fishery products, the Finance Ministry said.
A Norwegian politician has spoken of how how he felt guilty that the Somali asylum seeker who raped him was deported. Karsten Nordal Hauken, from Ås, Akershus, was raped in his home and the perpetrator was subsequently caught and jailed for 4.5 years. However, when Nordal Hauken found out that the man was to be deported back to Somalia after serving his time, he reveals he felt guilt that the man would possibly face hardship in his old country.Nordal Hauken has told his story as part of a television series on Norwegian state broadcaster NRK called Jeg mot Meg [Me against Myself] about mental illness and psychological struggles.
The week-long Arctic Frontiers conference kicked off on Sunday as about 1,300 delegates from around the world gathered in the northern Norwegian city of Tromso to discuss the balance between industrial and environmental interests in the Arctic.At an opening ceremony at the Fram Centre in central Tromso Sunday evening, Jan-Gunnar Winther and Harald Steen from the Norwegian Polar Institute presented the 2015 Norwegian Winter Research Expedition to the Arctic Ocean, which shows a thinning ice with dramatic consequences in the region.
General Lieutenant Morten Haga Lunde, chief of Norwegian intelligence service E-tjenesten, has publicly accused hackers affiliated with the Chinese government of conducting cyber-espionage against Norway-based firms to steal sensitive data and military state secrets.The statements were first reported by Norwegian TV station TV2 as Lunde was showcasing his agencies annual intelligence report – a detailed analysis undertaken by the defence department that highlights key cyber-threats and emerging concerns.
With a story about the spark of enthusiasm as a symbol for inspiration, passion and creativity, Norway kicked off the opening ceremony of the second Winter Youth Olympic Games in its central city here. About 15,000 spectators braved bone-chilling cold in the evening to participate in the ceremony at the Lysgardsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena on Friday, the same venue that hosted the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer in 1994, reports media.The celebration centred around the journey of a boy who dreams of becoming the best athlete in the world and trains hard to achieve his goals.
A team of scientists led by Marc Lessard of the University of New Hampshire Space Science Center launched an instrument-laden, four-stage sounding rocket from Norway’s Andøya Space Center about 280 miles above Earth to study how particles move in a region near the North Pole where Earth’s magnetic field is directly connected to the solar wind. The launch occurred Sunday, Dec. 13, at 2:34 a.m. EST.Funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the second iteration of the Rocket Experiment for Neutral Upwelling, or RENU 2, was designed to measure the complex, underlying physics behind the northern lights and heating of the very high altitude thermosphere – a process known as “upwelling” that contributes to the phenomena of “satellite drag.”
Russia’s ambassador to Norway, Viatsjeslav Alfredovitsj Pavlovskij concludes his tenure as ambassador and heads home to takeover deputy chairmanship of the Board of Directors of Russian Railways.
Norway’s Lutheran Church voted on Monday in favour of allowing same-sex marriage, becoming the latest of a small but growing number of churches worldwide to do so. Last year the French Protestant Church allowed gay marriage blessings, while the US Presbyterian Church approved a change in the wording of its constitution to include same-sex marriage.In a vote at the annual conference of the Norwegian Lutheran Church on Monday 88 delegates out of 115 in total backed same-sex marriage.
Norwegian appeals court has upheld a ruling that the former chief of Russian telecoms provider Vimpelcom, Jo Lunder, should be released from custody during an ongoing police investigation into allegations of corruption. Lunder was released from custody late on November 10 after the appeals court upheld a November 6 ruling by a lower court that he should be released.His detention on November 4 after arriving in Oslo on a flight from London came in the midst of an investigation into corruption allegations concerning Vimpelcom’s activities in Uzbekistan.
Thousands of Romanians have expressed anger at a decision by the Oslo authorities to take five children away from their Romanian-Norwegian parents over allegations of mistreatment. Over 62,000 people in Romania have signed a petition in recent days asking for a fast and fair solution in a sensitive case involving a Romanian-Norwegian family whose five children were taken into care by the Norwegian authorities because of alleged mistreatment.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has issued an update on its analysis of recoverable oil from Norway’s various offshore fields and discoveries. NPD’s goal in 2005 was to achieve growth in oil reserves of 5 BBbl over 10 years. The actual result is somewhat below that figure, although the target would have been achieved if Statoil’s development plan for Johan Sverdrup in the North Sea had been submitted before the end of 2014.“There has been substantial resource growth in many fields,” said Kirsti Veggeland, assistant director general for shelf analysis. “The most important reasons for this are more wells, extended field lifetimes and improved knowledge.”