The Fourth Annual Dialogue Meeting between Norway and the World Bank/IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) was held on 22nd and 23rd of May in Washington, D.C. Themes for this years meeting were Energy Sector Management, Hydropower and Aquaculture. The Royal Norwegian Embassy and Innovation Norway in Washington, D.C. were responsible for the event, which had over 80 participants.
The first day was the introductory day for the Norwegian participants, and was held at the embassy. Ambassador Vollebæk opened the Dialogue Meeting and emphasized the importance of sustaining this forum as a mutual meeting point between the multilateral banks and Norwegian competence. This was supported by Senior Adviser, Olav Seim from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who informed about Norwegian policies and support to the World Bank.
Mr. Svein Aass, who will shortly take the position of Executive Director for the Nordic Baltic office of the World Bank - and thereby be a voting member of the World Bank Board - assured that Norway still was an important supporter for the World Bank even though their decrease in economic funding.
The second day of the Dialogue Meeting took place at the World Bank, and the Director for Water and Energy, Jamal Saghir, started the session on Energy Sector Management. He underlined that Norway’s expertise and contribution on hydropower and Energy Sector Management was important to the World Bank. Morten Svelle, Director in the Department for Environment and Private Sector Management in Norad and Marianne Damhaug, Managing Director of Norplan answered Mr. Saghir with a presentation of Norway’s strengths in the power sector. Some of their major points were:
• Hydropower (incl. Transmission / Distribution)
• Utilization of Natural Resources (incl. Environmental and Social Impact Assessments)
• Institutional and Regulatory Framework
• Training and Research
A parallel session on Aquaculture took place that same day and a major point out of this session was the notion of the upcoming strategy from the World Bank on Aquaculture, and the fact that Norwegian input was in demand. SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, Norwegian Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (Fiskeriforskning) and Marine Research Institute emphasized Norway’s leading role within aquaculture, specifically in technology, feeding systems and systems for disease control. The three Norwegian institutions expressed a strong interest in working with the World Bank in the future.
To read more about the Dialogue Meeting and to access the presentations, go to:
/restech/past/WBG+4th+Dialog.htm