Innovation Norway is the Norwegian government's official trade representative abroad and aims to assist Norwegian businesses to grow and find new markets. Local presence is therefore deemed crucial.
The Embassy has eagerly been awaiting the decision of the Board of Innovation Norway since October 2012, when CEO Ms. Gunn Ovesen came to Jakarta for a preparatory visit and to meet with the Embassy and the Indonesia-Norway Business Council, representatives of Norwegian enterprises in Indonesia, Indonesian authorities and Nordic colleagues.
The Norwegian Trade Council, the previous name of Innovation Norway, closed down the former trade office in Jakarta in 2001, when the economic (Asian) crisis in the late 1990s devastated the financial sector in Indonesia overnight with brutal consequences for Indonesian and foreign businesses. In course of the last decade the economic developments and the conditions for doing business in Indonesia has greatly improved and today the economy is back on the same investment level as before the crisis, and probably even more attractive to foreign trade and investments.
Innovation Norway has so far covered Indonesia from the regional office in Singapore. In the region Innovation Norway has also offices in China (Beijing and Shanghai) and India (New Delhi).
The Board of Innovation Norway based its decision to reopen a trade office in Indonesia on the growing interest and potential for the Norwegian business sector, particularly in the energy (oil, gas and renewable), maritime and marine sectors. The office aim also to assist in overcoming obstacles as limited access to reliable and credible information and market knowledge, unavailable consulting market and the challenges Norwegian companies are facing in starting up business operations here and establishing relevant networks. The trade office will be co-located with the Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta, and will be staffed by a Commercial Counselor from Norway and two local staff.