/ Kristiansand delegation to China
In connection with the royal couple's visit to China, Mayor Harald Furre and representatives from the business community in Southern Norway will travel to meet Chinese businesses. A cooperation agreement will also be signed with the port city of Qingdao.
- "We have invited business representatives from Southern Norway to participate in a visit to China during the royal couple's China tour October 15-19," says Mayor Harald Furre, who is traveling with a delegation of 14 from Kristiansand. The delegation consists of representatives from GCE NODE, Norce research, Frigstad Engineering, NHO Agder, InvestInAgder, UiA and the Norwegian School of Economics. The invitation was openly posted to all companies in Southern Norway.
- We have planned a separate program where we both participate in the royal couple's official program, while at the same time we have a separate program for our delegation. We will visit both Beijing and the port city of Qingdao. The visit became a reality after we had a visit in Kristiansand by China's ambassador to Norway, Wang Min. In addition, we have had good help from China expert Henning Kristoffersen, and our own head of Business Region Kristiansand, Geir Askvik Haugum, who has experience from 3 - 4 years for Innovation Norway in Beijing, says Mayor Furre.
Cooperation agreement Qingdao and Kristiansand
- We are going to Qingdao, a city with which we have already signed a letter of intent. This will now be reinforced with an officially signed agreement," says Furre. The letter of intent was signed in Oslo on June 27 between Vice Mayor Mrs. Luan Xin of Qingdao and Harald Furre.
- The purpose of the visit and the partnership agreement with Qingdao is to facilitate our business community's access to the Chinese market. In China, political contacts and opening doors mean more than in Western market economies," says Furre.
- We want to stimulate companies in Kristiansand and in Southern Norway to see opportunities in the Chinese market, so that more jobs can be created at home. In other words, it is not facilitating production in China that is most important to us, but to utilize the ever-increasing Chinese market. The middle class in China, which has quite good purchasing power, now numbers over 500 million people. That says something about the importance and size of this market," says Mayor Furre.
- The cooperation agreement between Kristiansand and Qingdao will be signed in Beijing with the royal couple and the Chinese Deputy Prime Minister present on Tuesday, October 16. In the Chinese context, this will help to give the agreement extra significance. The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Trade and Industry will also attend the event, says Mayor Furre. Mayor Harald Furre and Vice Mayor Mr. Liu Jianjun will sign the agreement.
Business Region Kristiansand has planned a program where the delegation will visit the industrial company Tech Temple and participate in the China-Norway Business Summit in Beijing. In Qingdao there is an official meeting with the mayor of the city and meetings with, among others, Qingdao Marine and Fishery Bureau, Ocean University of China, Shandong Marin Group, Robotfish and QLM-Qingdao National Laboratory. The tour continues to a new area along the coast with meetings with Wunchang Shipbuilding Industry Group, among others.
Author: Ragna Marie Henden, Kristiansand Municipality
