NICCI NORWEGIAN BUSINESS DELEGATION VISIT, DELHI AND MUMBAI CHAPTER

Summation of the recently held Norwegian Business Delegation

Date: 15th October, 2022

Norway India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) an independent trade body based in Norway arranged a Norwegian Business delegation to India from 10th – 12th October, 2022, spreading across the capital of India, New Delhi and the financial capital of India, Mumbai.

Norwegian Business Association India (NBAI) collaborated with NICCI on this initiative and was also part of this delegation which consisted of 16 full time members of Norway India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) and also a few member companies of NBAI.

(Delegates at the World Bank office in New Delhi)

This was a very thoughtful and well-arranged delegation with flavors of the industry, academia, entrepreneurs, small businesses and tourism enthusiasts.

Day 1 (10th October, 2022): was planned in Delhi and started with the meetings in the morning with the World Bank ; it were valueable inputs which were shared by the representatives of the World bank with regards to the funding procedures, project approvals and implementation of the funds for the proposed projects.

The delegation and the World Bank also discussed of some specific ways to collaborate between the Norwegian businesses and the bank to contribute to the projects in future and for the “Climate Investment fund”

Other subjects discussed during the session were energy engagement programs in India, supporting solar parks, EV manufacturing, Hydro parks, battery storage facilities, renewable energy.

India Economic update was an important part of the discussion where in facts and future predictions were overviewed, the Start-up industry is also in the focus with the Government and steps are in place to support the same.

World Bank closely works with the Government of India and generally provides the technical assistance and direct financing for the projects.

A walk was arranged to see and explore the beauty of Lodhi gardens followed by a quick shopping destination at the famous Khan market.

Invest India, a Government of India’s National investment, promotion and facilitation agency was next on the agenda and the entire delegation was directed to their office in New Delhi. Many interesting facts and figures were shared by the Invest India team. The climate of doing business in India was discussed in detail and it was very well supported by the facts, examples and the realistic figures.

Norway- India opportunities were discussed with a major focus on sectors like Hydro, Battery storage, Startup ecosystem, waste management, education, tourism, manufacturing, etc.

A broad view of consumption pattern in India, Make in India initiative, PLI schemes, innovation in industries, decarbonization, infrastructure pipelines, Governments’ plug-n-play’ infrastructure development plans, doing business in India reforms, etc. were discussed and presented in detail.

Post the presentation which created a positive impact, a quick round of Q & A followed and all the questions were answered suitably.

Invitation from Innovation Norway was next program on the list, the entire delegation visited the Royal Norwegian Embassy and were well received by the Country Director & Commercial Counselor of Innovation Norway, Mr. Cristian Valdes Carter and his team. The findings of the Business Climate survey as well as the potential and the commercial opportunities were shared. Interesting figures and data from 2011 till 2022 was shared with the trends, total imports & total exports. The data was collected for the trade between India & Norway as well as Norway & Asia.

Active industry policy, strategic sectors, green energy transition, the recent Kerala Chief Minister’s visit were the other highlights of this session.

The same evening, H.E Ambassador of Norway to India, Mr. Hans Jacob Frydenlund hosted the delegation at his residence and arranged for networking opportunities to meet with other guests as well, this was arranged over the dinner.

H.E Ambassador welcomed the delegation and encouraged the members to be a part of such visits and support the bilateral relations.

DAY 2: (11th October, 2022)
A morning session was arranged with Ms. Anita George, Independent Director, Tata Sons.

Ms. George has a distinguished track record in sustainable investments across the globe. She gave a wide angle perspective of both public and private sector investments in infrastructure across the geographies; also a major focus in her address was the global agreements addressing the climate change. Various infrastructures financing with the private sector were highlighted.

The members of the delegation had an interactive session with Ms. George.

The same day in the afternoon the delegation flew to Mumbai as next chapter of the visit.

Mr. Flølo welcomed the delegation with his encouraging address.

A networking reception was arranged for the visiting delegation, the highlights of the event was the panel discussion session moderated by the Deputy Consul General, Ms. Tone Helena Aarwick and answered by the panel members: Mr. Ganesh Shenoy, CFO, Orkla MTR Foods, Mr. Rajesh Joshi, Sr. VP, Aker Solutions, Mr. Leonidas Pantazopoulos, MD, Kongsberg Maritime and Ms. Gargi Pareek, Area Manager, TOMRA.

The panel discussion was focused on the topics like “ease of doing business in India, carbon reduction, environment protection, waste management, green transition of businesses”.

The delegates thoroughly appreciated the answers of the panel members.

<palign=”justify”>The evening was hosted by the Hon. Consul General of Norway in Mumbai, Mr. Arne Jan Flølo and the Deputy Consul General, Ms. Tone Helena Aarwick and the team at the Royal Norwegian Consulate.

Mr. Flølo welcomed the delegation with his encouraging address.

The panel discussion was focused on the topics like “ease of doing business in India, carbon reduction, environment protection, waste management, green transition of businesses”.

The delegates thoroughly appreciated the answers of the panel members.

Day 3 (12th October, 2022)

The delegation visited the office of the one of the patron members of NBAI – DNV .
The DNV team well hosted the delegation and provided a brief overview of the DNV business in India, apposite presentation was given by the DNV team on the various aspects of the business domains and the work carried out by various verticals of the DNV India team, Maritime, Engineering, Product Assurance, Supply chain, etc.

The DNV team showcased all the businesses they do in India and the support system, office visit was arranged for all the delegates and a giveaways were arranged for each and every delegate, this was as a token of appreciation

Being the final day of the visit, NICCI- General Manager, Mr. Trond Skundberg, arranged for a site visit to the biggest slum area in Asia, Dharavi. Dharavi is situated in the middle of Mumbai city and is also considered as a house to many small scale industries like, leather, garments, dyeing, sweets and savories, plastic waste, etc.

Hon. Consul General of Norway to Mumbai, Mr. Arne Jan Flølo arranged for the networking reception at his residence, all the delegates were invited and had interactive meetings with the other guests. This interaction included a brief address on Sustainability in business by Mr. P S Narayan, Global Head Sustainability, Wipro Ltd.