Korea and Norway join forces on clean energy, eco-friendly and smart ships

The Republic of Korea and Norway have joined forces to boost economic cooperation in clean energy, shipbuilding, and eco-friendly and smart vessels.

As disclosed, Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Inkyo Cheong and Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy Marianne Sivertsen Næss met on June 3, 2024, in Sejong City to discuss stronger economic cooperation in maritime, clean energy, Korea-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and the Korea-Norway Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF).

Trade Minister Cheong stated that the recent global shift towards eco-friendly and smart vessels is creating a good opportunity for Korea and Norway to achieve shared growth.

The progress will be based on the combination of Korea’s shipbuilding capacity and Norway’s technological prowess in eco-friendly and autonomous self-navigation.

Furthermore, he mentioned the need for wider utilization of offshore wind power, clean hydrogen, nuclear, and carbon-free energy sources for effectively responding to climate change.

Moreover, the minister requested Norway’s active interest and participation in the Carbon Free Energy (CFE) Initiative, asking that Norway attend the World Climate Industry Expo (WCE 2024) to be co-hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Busan in September this year.

Noting how the Korea-EFTA FTA contributed to expanding the trade volume among its parties and helped stabilize the import of Norwegian fishery products, he articulated his hopes for Korea and Norway further invigorating bilateral trade and investment.

In view of the rapidly changing trade and economic landscape, both sides shared the understanding that the Korea-Norway Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF) would be a good opportunity for upgrading their economic cooperation.

They also agreed to push the bilateral TIPF forward for a more comprehensive collaboration beyond trade and investment to cover new trade issues like green energy, supply chains, and digital.

To remind, Norway recently signed a new agreement with the UK, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands to facilitate better cooperation on the international operation of autonomous vessels.

The agreement aims to simplify the operation of autonomous ships in the North Sea and ensure that they can operate safely within the individual countries’ national requirements and frameworks.

Norway’s government also signed a declaration of intent with Switzerland to strengthen cooperation on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon dioxide removals (CDR) between the two countries.