Norway’s new foreign minister, Børge Brende, says he’ll continue to emphasize the Arctic areas and pay lots of attention to Northern Norway, carrying on the policies of the former left-center government. Brende says he actually wants to make the area an even bigger priority, with the aim of nurturing several “Silicon Valleys” in such northern counties as Troms and Finnmark.
Brende, speaking at the University of Tromsø, which now bills itself as “Norway’s Arctic University,” said he hopes to see new companies grow out of the various cores of knowledge in the far north.
Brende added that the northern areas will continue to be “the most important strategic foreign policy issue for Norway,” where both domestic and foreign policy meet. He also wants to harvest results of development efforts made so far.
newsinenglish.no staff
