Thank you, Mr Pestka,
Ambassador Svedman,
Ambassador Dr. Berg,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
it is my pleasure to be in this beautiful city of Oslo even though I have not been able to see much of it due to darkness when the plane touched down last night, and the twilight of dawn this morning when I could starte dagen me´ een kopp kaffe.
In Hamburg, people are proud of being called The Northern Lights by our countrymen. I am aware that Oslo is not really way up North within your country. Obviously, certain things depend on your respective point of view but one thing doesn´t:
Both Oslo and Hamburg are thriving cities in a region which is very much on the move, and will be even more so in the forthcoming decades.
As to Norway and Germany, we all know that the past has been clouded for a long period after the five years´ ordeal of German occupation Norway had to survive. I am all the more grateful indeed for having been invited to your country which has long since agreed to reconcile with today´s Germany, and pleased to be able to do consultations with political and economic leaders of today´s Norway.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
there´s got to be topics galore. This morning, I have been discussing the ongoing financial crisis with the Minister of Finance, Mr Sigbjørn Johnsen. It is of high interest for Hamburg being one of the 16 German Länder or states to exchange points of view with representatives of a nation that has opted not to join the European Union. And that has, jointly with Luxemburg, the highest per capita income in Europe.
And yet the Euro crisis, the weak US job market, the shrinking growth rates in emerging economies like China and India are not only some of the difficult matters of concern that we currently face. We share them as well, as Europe as a whole will not remain unconcerned whenever economic and financial crises hit.
In our North European region, Norway, despite not being a Baltic Sea adjacent state, has been an important partner in Baltic Sea co-operation for centuries. And today, fortunately, Hamburg is working closely together with partners from Eastern Norway County Network.
This counts especially for joint activities in the network of the Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation I will not even try to pronounce its acronym. This year´s annual conference of the organization took place in Lillestrøm not far from here, and Hamburg organized one of the sessions.
Norwegian and Hamburg partners are working together in quite a number of INTERREG projects, too, such as BaltCICA or TransBaltic. Hamburg is very interested in continuing this co-operation in the next programming period beginning 2014.
Furthermore, it is of high importance for all regions around the Baltic Sea to keep Norway involved in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the flagship projects in the Action Plan.
It is, in fact, an unprecedented vision that we share: to be able to travel between Hamburg, Copenhagen and the southern regions of Scandinavia in record time. This will make it possible for our cities and our countries to become closer than ever before. The fixed Femernbelt link will create a new axis which will help the entire region gain momentum.
And this we need. Hamburg´s growing population of some 1.8 million or five million in the metropolitan area depend on a thriving industry and, not least, on a well-oiled global trade. After a strong decline during the previous year, global trade has only managed to grow by around five per cent. In the long run, oscillations like these may jeopardize the prospects for our port economy, and for container shipping and shipbuilding in many countries.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
another most important issue and a major economic factor in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region is the energy U-turn Germany is aiming at. And I need not introduce you to the joint endeavour Norway and Germany have in mind: the cable project. Indeed I am looking forward to the presentation that will follow in a few minutes.
Hamburg and the Hamburg Metropolitan Region are a stronghold of the renewable energy industry. Being Europes wind energy capital, Hamburg has attracted leading manufacturers and component suppliers, and other companies involved in this industry to settle their headquarters in the city.
Hamburg has long since taken to R&D concerning renewable energies. The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, for example, envisages a Wind Lab and a Smart Grid Lab as part of the future Technology Center Energy Campus.
Hamburg is also the central planning location for solar power parks in Germany and around the world. Major decision-making companies such as Conergy Deutschland, Centrosolar, Voltwerk, and Velux are based in our metropolitan region.
Hamburg not only provides for the necessary development know-how, but also for the certification, financing and insurance, which are a prerequisite for the well-functioning of this branch. The Renewable Energy Hamburg Cluster was founded to strengthen and promote industry cooperation and to underpin positive economic development.
It provides the regional industry with a new networking structure, enhancing innovation while intensifying international business relations. The aim of the cluster is to bring together engineers, scientists and politicians who work in the field of renewable energies and make use of the synergy effects deriving thereof.
More than 100 Hamburg companies are already generating five billion Euros in sales per year in the renewable energy sector. 14,500 employees in Hamburg work in this sector, with a total of 24,700 in the metropolitan region.
And the market is developing dynamically: offshore wind power alone off the coast of Germany is scheduled to generate 10,000 megawatts by 2020; and 20,000 to 25,000 by 2030. Conservative forecasts predict that more than 21 billion Euros will be spent on offshore wind parks by 2013. The opportunities associated with offshore wind power are therefore correspondingly attractive for the maritime subcontracting business, such as the development and construction of installation ships.
Energy is a big, and controversial issue in Germany, naturally. The prospects, however, are immense if we do the right thing and focus on state-of-the-art engineering.
Norway is one of the biggest producers of hydroelectric power, and so, from a German point of view, it will be very attractive to co-operate in this field, because German capacities are limited still. Against this background Hamburg is very interested in a quick realization of the submarine power cable project NordLink which is planned by TenneT and the Norwegian energy company Statnett.
What´s more, it will be of high interest to learn even more about Norwegian ideas in this field, after having exchanged views with the State Secretary Ms Hansdatter Kismul earlier today.
Thank you again for the warm welcome you have extended to me. Now let´s hear for the Statnett presenters. Tusend takk for opmerksomheten.