At first sight, Romania and Norway seem as different as they come. Nonetheless, Ambassador Øystein Hovdkinn has already found a few similarities since he arrived in Bucharest nearly a year ago.
Admitting to have opted for this posting to Romania because he did not want to leave Europe, the Norwegian diplomat said he felt a special bond with this continent and had never desired to be posted anywhere else. "My only mission outside Europe coincided with the first posting in my diplomatic career. I was posted to Canberra, Australia, three years after joining the Norwegian Foreign Service in 1975. After that, my career took me to Brussels, at our EU mission, and later as deputy secretary general of EFTA. I was also posted to Bonn (then German capital), to Vienna, at our mission to the OSCE, and to Scotland. Since 2008 I've been posted to Bucharest," Ambassador Hovdkinn summarized his diplomatic career.
Also responsible for the Republic of Moldova, the Norwegian diplomat believes that both his native country and Romania have strong traditions related to agriculture and farming. "In some way, Romania reminds me of Norway in my youth. I grew up in the countryside and I was used to seeing horses and carts in the streets. Romania's wood handicraft tradition is also a quite similar to the Norwegian culture," Øystein Hovdkinn pointed out.
Emphasizing that the bilateral relations were at a minimal level shortly after 1989, the Ambassador welcomes all new developments leading to tighter cooperation. Thus, he takes pride in the fact that the economic relations have visibly intensified over the last decade. "Not too long ago, Romania has become a member of NATO. Even though Norway is not a member of the EU it is a partner within the European internal market. Following Romania's EU accession in 2007, we have successfully developed economic collaborations. At this point, there are about 50 to 60 Norwegian companies registered in Romania. Many officials even claim that there should be about 250 Norwegian companies in Romania, but the Embassy has knowledge of and collaborates with about 50," said the Ambassador. Quoting Aker Yards (now Korean STX Europe) as the largest Norwegian investment in Romania, Hovdkinn said that the two shipyards, in Braila and Tulcea, currently build ships for the North Sea. Orkla Foods, Blom and ICE Design ICEPRONAV Galati are three other major Norwegian investments in Romania.
Specifying that the bilateral trade figure amounted to around 2,652.1 million NOK (300 million Euro) in the first ten months of 2008, while the annual volume of Norwegian investment ranged between 150 - 200 million NOK (17-22.5 million Euro), the Ambassador said that Romania had a big surplus in its trade with Norway, because of the ship building industry. "At a recent trade show, the Romanian Minister of Trade and SMEs pointed out that Romania must export or die. When I later met him, I told him that even if that were the case, Romania would still be safe because of Norway. Romania has a big export surplus with our country," said the Ambassador.
Moreover, he also said that irrespective of the current financial context Norway will continue to be interested in Romania. "Despite the financial crisis, the interest will remain. There is no doubt that Romania will continue developing after the crisis. At a recent Norwegian business forum, several companies expressed their intention to collaborate with the Embassy in order to launch investments in Romania. We must not be fooled by the rating agencies, because the data they offer is rather relative. In comparison to other countries, Romania has a safe political environment and it is part of the European internal market, as is Norway. There are difficulties everywhere, but Romania still has a favorable position, at least for the Norwegian companies," the Ambassador said in an optimistic tone.
Acknowledging that Romania's energy sector offered great opportunities, Hovdkinn said that Norway would invest in projects in this sector in the nearest future. "Starting this year until 2011, we will provide 95 million Euro in financial assistance, with a view to developing projects and deepening cooperation between Norway and Romania in areas such as energy and energy efficiency. Norway has a wide experience in this field and, furthermore, 98 per cent of its electricity consumption consists of hydropower. We believe that 50 per cent of Romania's hydropower resources have not been developed while the remaining 50 per cent are in need of modernization," pointed out the Norwegian diplomat. He also expressed hope to intensify university student and professor exchanges, underlining that this might be another great potential to be explored in Romania, as it has high education standards. "We have established a scholarship fund of around one million Euro, which will pay for visits of Romanian students and professors at Norwegian universities. Relations have developed well but there is room for so much more," he said.
Patiently waiting for the bilateral relations to boom, Ambassador Øystein Hovdkinn confessed that he had little knowledge of the Romanian language, but he was doing his utmost to learn it. "I can speak French, so it doesn't make it too difficult. It comes way easier than Hungarian, for example," he said. Proud of the fact that a Henrik Ibsen play has been translated and recently successfully performed on stage in Cluj, the diplomat emphasized that what he likes most in his job is the opportunity to experience new cultures and observe the society in its totality. "There are so many specialists nowadays in every field. Diplomats, on the other hand, and maybe journalists also, are expected to be knowledgeable about everything, having to understand a country in its entirety. The challenge comes with the frequent location changes, which involves establishing new contacts all the time; it can be rather painful, especially if you cannot speak the local language. But being an easily adaptable person is also an important quality that a diplomat must have," concluded Øystein Hovdkinn.