23 December 2014 - The ASEAN Committee in Oslo (ACO) visited Trondheim, the science and technology capital of Norway from December 08 to 09 and met with the city’s mayor, Ms. Rita Ottervik, officials and researchers of NTNU, SINTEF, MARINTEK, as well as the general manager for international business of Mid-Norway Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) is a public research university located in the city of Trondheim, Norway’s third largest city and the country’s capital during the Viking era. NTNU is the second largest university in Norway, and is the main institution for higher education in engineering and technology. SINTEF, which acts as an incubator for new industrial companies, is the largest independent research organization in Scandinavia. It creates value through knowledge generation, research and innovation, and developed technological solutions that are brought into practical use.

Meanwhile, MARINTEK  (Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute) is a company under SINTEF which develops and verifies technological solutions, business and operating concepts for the shipping, marine equipment, ocean energy and petroleum industries.

The Mid-Norway Chamber of Commerce is a 150-year old business association in the Trondheim region and chamber of commerce for Mid-Norway with approximately 1,500 member companies and part of a world wide organization of 14,000 chambers of commerce.

The ACO had productive meetings with officials and researchers of these organizations and are now planning to return to Trondheim in Spring for an ASEAN 2015 Business Seminar to be organized with the cooperation of the Mid-Norway Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The ACO is comprised of the four resident ASEAN ambassadors in Oslo; Indonesian Ambassador Yuwono Agus Putranto, Philippine Ambassador Bayani S. Mercado, Thai Ambassador Theerakun Niyom, and Vietnamese Ambassador Thi Tuyet Mai Le.

ASEAN committees in foreign capitals are tasked to promote awareness of the Association, its interests and identity in host countries.

In 2015, the ASEAN Committee in Oslo also plan to visit other major Norwegian cities to promote ASEAN and look for areas where Norway and ASEAN countries can cooperate. END