The ocean is a priority area for co-operation between India and Norway and the MoU is part of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs drive for increased collaboration. The Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi and the Consulate General in Mumbai are working closely with Indian authorities on a broad range of ocean related matters.
The Cluster will tie Indian and Norwegian ocean and maritime collaboration closer together. It will provide a common platform for researchers in maritime fields, research facilitators and sponsors and Maritime Industry partners to interact, forge partnerships and business alliances, thereby augmenting innovation in mercantile marine.
At a recent digital event, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Directorate for Shipping in India (DGS) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) was signed by Mr. Amitabh Kumar, Director General of Shipping, on behalf of the Government of India and Ms. Annik Magerholm Fet, Deputy Rector of Ålesund, on behalf of NTNU.
The MoU will promote:
- research, innovation and training in maritime fields
- sustainable marine development
- blue economy
- maritime technologies
- knowledge sharing
- opportunities for seminars, conferences, study trips, etc.
An important milestone
The signing ceremony was opened by Norway's Consul General in Mumbai, Arne Jan Flølo. He congratulated the partners and showed his appreciation to the DG Shipping, Government of India for their interest and commitment towards technological developments and innovative solution from the Maritime Knowledge Cluster - India in collaborative approaches. He emphasized the importance of mutually beneficial relationships rather than the single action of an individual partner and expressed that the collaborations are the key to the success.
The dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Olav Bolland, presented NTNU with special emphasis on the Ocean Space Center plans. NTNU Havrom's director Siri Granum Carson organized and chaired the meeting in collaboration with Maan Singh Sidhu from Innovation Norway's office in New Dehli.
- This is a great achievement. Today's signing sets an important milestone for closer research collaboration between Norway and India. This will strengthen innovation in marine technology, sustainable marine development and the blue economy, says Dr. Maan Singh Sidhu, who is responsible for science, technology and higher education at the Norwegian Embassy.
India is one of six countries with which Norway has a priority collaboration with regard to higher education and research. Thematic areas related to the oceans such as climate change, the environment, marine research, the maritime sector and polar research are at the heart of this collaboration.