Consul General of Norway, Ann Ollestad was on a three-day visit to Goa to explore business opportunity with the state. Ms Ollestad was accompanied by 22-member delegation of business and industry captains from Norway who showed keen interests on maritime industry and its development. VIKANT SAHAY met with Ms Ollestad and talked to her on issues which may bring in Norway and Goa closer to each other.
HERALD: What brings you here to Goa?
ANN OLLESTAD: We have with us the maritime cluster which is a combination of business related to shipyard, skills and development, maritime financing, certification of environment sustainability etc. All these are group together in our 22-member delegation which is visiting Goa to develop business among Norway and Goa as part of India. Goa seems to be a very good mix with Norwegian competence. Since I am representing the government, I am very optimistic that we will be able to open the doors of business opportunities. We are meeting Goa Shipyard, skilled institutions to see what business opportunities we can build upon.
HERALD: Let us know something about the white paper on oceans which has recently been brought about by the Norway government?
AO: This is the first time that the Norway government has come out with. During the Viking age the Norwegian advantage was ship building technology, its ability to sell ships, primarily to help reach new land for better trade opportunities. Later on in the sailing age we built on that strength by introducing the steam engine and then later in the 20th century it was harnessed by gas and oil. Now that the age of fossil fuel is declining, we are using the same technology to build offshore wind turbines and other related clean technologies. These clusters are making Norway competitive in the global market. Also, India is becoming a very important maritime nation and also in perspective with the security issues and we know that the defence and naval industry is growing. We also have experts in these areas who are accompanying us in this delegation to Goa.
HERALD: What are the key issues mentioned in the white paper?
AO: Some of the key issues mentioned in the white paper are the sustainable use and the value creation of the seas and oceans. This can been anything from aquaculture close to the coast line, sustainable offshore fishing, management of those resources, its surveillance and the development of better technologies to make sure that we understand and respect the ocean better than what we are doing now. This is a skill set which Norway has been able to develop over many decades and we see that the demand for these skills are gradually growing more and more.
HERALD: Since Goa is a tourist state it is concerned about its solid waste management. Do you have any solutions to offer?
AO: Apart from maritime issues, Goa should be a node also when it comes to a fight against the micro plastics and waste materials. Goa is an important state for us to establish partnership when it comes to the issue of waste management. Waste management is a very important business in Norway and I see Goa too can use this opportunity as we do have technologies to sort these issues.
