Today, India celebrates its Independence Day. On behalf of the Norwegian authorities, we congratulate you. This can be an event to have fun India’s speedy growth since 1947.

India was the primary nation Norway gave assist to. Now India has the world’s quickest rising financial system and the world’s largest inhabitants. Norway has an open financial system, and for us, the options lie in cooperation with international markets and manufacturing chains. The authorities is due to this fact strengthening its funding within the rising market India.

When historians look again on our time sooner or later, one growth will seem clearer than others – the shift in financial and geopolitical energy from the West to East. We grew up in a world dominated by two superpowers. Today we reside in a world with an rising variety of massive gamers, a so-called multipolar world. A variety of these new gamers are rising in Asia, together with India. Geopolitics and its framework are altering.

From Elephant to Tiger

India has skilled robust financial development for the reason that financial reforms of the Nineteen Nineties. An expansive service sector, digital infrastructure and a big, well-educated English-speaking workforce make India a really attention-grabbing associate. Goldman Sachs predicts that India’s GDP will surpass that of the European Union by 2051 and the US by 2075.

Norway is concerned about elevated worldwide commerce; as a small and open financial system, we’ve benefited from that. It remains to be in our curiosity to collaborate globally on each political options and commerce. If we’re to realize Norway’s ambition to extend mainland exports by 50 per cent by 2030, we should dare to spend money on the most important economies in Asia, and never least in India.

What can we provide India – and what can India supply Norway?

Around 120 Norwegian firms have operations in India at current, and essential gamers resembling Statkraft, Equinor, Aker Solutions, DNV, Kongsberg, Yara, Jotun and Orkla are nicely established within the Indian market. More firms are on their manner in.

India is in the present day an essential provider of expert labor to Norway. We have Indian IT engineers who function IT options, who work within the offshore business, and we’ve a excessive variety of Indian seamen who work on Norwegian-owned ships.

Norway additionally has in depth analysis collaboration with India. India is turning into an more and more essential information nation, and the Norwegian Research Council is spending over Rs 800 million this 12 months to finance joint Norwegian-Indian analysis initiatives with no less than one Indian analysis establishment. The goal is to match one of the best Norwegian analysis establishments with one of the best Indian ones and enter the information society of the longer term collectively.

The curiosity from Indian authorities and firms in studying from Norwegian maritime industries can be nice, and we see an elevated demand for maritime options or propulsion methods primarily based on batteries, LNG, hydrogen and ammonia. Digital options inside the maritime sector are additionally in demand. India is without doubt one of the world’s largest farming nations and thus a key marketplace for Norwegian feed suppliers.

The Indian market will be demanding, and one of many authorities’s most essential duties within the work on internationalisation is to contribute to the absolute best framework situations for Norwegian enterprise overseas. The Minister of Trade and Industry has visited India twice this spring to advertise Norwegian enterprise and make progress within the negotiations on an EFTA-India free commerce settlement.

A world group of future

Finally, Norway, India and the world are woven collectively within the international group of future surrounding local weather change.

Like Norway, India is placing their efforts on the inexperienced shift. The nation’s CO2 emissions have tripled since 1990 and India has political ambitions for a inexperienced industrial increase that can make the nation local weather impartial by 2070. This is essential for the world to reach the two-degree goal.

It additionally offers vital alternatives for Norwegian exporters and repair suppliers who’re far forward with options in photo voltaic, wind, hydropower, hydrogen, batteries, vitality storage methods and the round financial system. We are robust in know-how, whereas India has massive scale. A big market contributes to the truth that the prices of the brand new inexperienced options can come down. India and Asia’s inexperienced transition will supply nice alternatives for Norwegian enterprise and business that is able to spend money on these sectors.

Henrik Ibsen writes within the play “Peer Gynt”, “When the world spins, we spin with it”. In a altering world, Norway should not simply spin alongside, we should spin with it. In that case, shut cooperation with rising nations and markets resembling India is of essential significance. It is each in our nationwide curiosity and in our widespread good. Together we’re stronger, and we are going to succeed higher.

(Anniken Huitfeldt is Noweigian Foreign Minister and Jan Christian Vestre is Norway’s Minister for Trade and Industry)

Disclaimer: These are the non-public opinions of the authors.