The Norwegian Australian Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for hosting several meetings with Mary Ellen Miller, the Australian Ambassador to Denmark, Norway and Iceland.

An event in Perth was a mid-term posting consultation to for the purposes of meeting representatives of Norwegian and Australian companies, hear about their business experiences in Norway and Australia and to learn about their future plans.

A meeting in Sydney with the Chamber directors discussed ways to increase collaboration between the Embassy and the chambers.

The Norwegian and Australian companies’ areas of discussion were very broad. We recognised that there is a strong link between Western Australia and Norway due to mutual interest in the Oil and Gas industry with companies such as Equinor and Woodside communicating over many different areas.

Another area of mutual interest was working together to identify areas of technology developed in Australia that would be a benefit to Norway. For example, with the current interest in renewable energy, Australia’s experience in Solar Thermal Energy was identified as a potentially useful technology in Norway.

The Ambassador advised that there are now more Norwegian students in Australia than in the United States. She encouraged the Chamber to see this as an area that should be fostered to build “Soft Diplomacy”. She pointed out that this assists to generate links between cultures, which is highly effective for nations like Australia and Norway.

Ambassador Miller also requested that the Chamber keep her informed of the success stories for companies conducting business in or businesses moving to Australia or Norway so she can promote their success and further that we keep her informed of any challenges that companies encounter in the process of operating between the two countries.

We wish the Ambassador well for the remainder of her posting and look forward to continued dialogue with her for the remainder of her term.