Murmansk teams up with Stavanger

Stavanger city and the surrounding Rogaland region have over time paved the way for the establishment of a petroleum industry cluster in the region. Troms and Finnmark have some of the same experiences with facilitation of business development, including in Harstad and Hammerfest, and has long experience of cooperation with Northwest Russia.

The new cooperation agreement between Rogaland, Troms, Finnmark on the Norwegian side and Murmansk in Russia, is going to strengthen the cooperation between the regions in the oil and gas sector. An important factor in the industrial development of Norwegian regions is that it has occurred as interplay between the industry itself and regional authorities. Such knowledge will be important to include in the cooperation work.

“Important step”
“We are excited to share experiences with Norway to facilitate industrial development. With today’s agreement we are taking an important step to continue and deepen the cooperation between Norway and Russia, “says Governor Dmitry Dmitrienko.

Improvement of the conditions for foreign companies that want to establish themselves in Russia and the Murmansk region is one of the key issues for the cooperation. Previous analysis has shown that it is important for local and regional development that measures are taken to facilitate for the industry.

An important fundament for the cooperation is that regional pressure is necessary to obtain approval for changes that may contribute to increased regional consequences. Such pressure can be strengthened by referring to experiences from regions in Norway.

Mutual benefit
“Rogaland County Council is pleased to help develop long-term business relations with Russia to the mutual benefit of both countries,” says county governor of Rogaland Janne Johnsen

The project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the participating counties, Innovation Norway and the Norwegian Barents Secretariat.