Two days in Houston
It was a content Minister of Foreign Affairs who left Houston Friday 6th of January after two busy days. The Minister got to experience many sides of Houston and Texas, among others that Houston is also a global hub for health and medicine, and seat of several recognised think-tanks and first-rate educational and research institutions. The Minister’s agenda included three public speeches, political meetings, sessions with Norwegian business leaders, and interviews with both local and Norwegian media.
Global health at Norway House
Texas Medical Center, situated in Houston, is the largest medical center in the world with close to 50 individual institutions, including 15 hospitals, and close to 120 000 employees. The Royal Norwegian Consulate General invited five of the top research-institutions connected to Texas Medical Center to Norway House to discuss challenges related to global health with the Foreign Minister. In his speech, Minister Støre extended an open invitation to the participating institutions to expand and deepen their cooperation with Norwegian partner institutions.
Connecting technology, nature and business
With its approximately 7 000 expats, Houston has the largest concentration of Norwegians outside of Scandinavia. The Houston region is important to Norwegian business, and Minister Støre announced in advance of his visit that building and strengthening commercial relationships was a theme of great importance to him. During a Breakfast Session arranged by the Norwegian American Chamber of Commerce and the Consulate General, he addressed 200 businessmen and women on how the foundation of Norwegian economic growth has been achieved at the intersection of natural resources, technology and innovation. Minister Støre referred to the Transatlantic Science Week that will be held in Houston November 12-15 as a good arena for taking this further through targeted networking, and emphasised the commonalities between Norway and Texas in that both experience economic progress during internationally challenging financial times.
The Arctic/High North
In collaboration with the World Affairs Council of Houston and the Norwegian Consulate General, Minister Støre gave a speech about the developments in the Arctic/High North, in part as a result of climate change, and identified key challenges and opportunities for the energy and shipping industry that arise from this. With the slogan “High North, Low Tension” Minister Støre targeted the importance of international cooperation in the Arctic/High North, of great interest to the 350 listeners.
Secretary James Baker
During his visit, the Minister met with Secretary James Baker and representatives from the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University to discuss current international political challenges, before leaving for Florida, and subsequently to Washington D.C.