The history of the Norwegian-Russian Business Forums dates back to 2010. In connection with the state visit of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev to Norway on 26-27 April 2010, the Norwegian-Russian Chamber of Commerce (NRCC) in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (CCI of Russia) organized a Norwegian-Russian Business Conference in Oslo. The event took place at Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo on 26 April, and Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev together with the Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg participated in the event with closing remarks. More than 350 representatives of Norwegian and Russian business, as well as Norwegian and Russian authorities took part in the event. The conference received broad coverage in Norwegian and Russian mass media.
The success was repeated in 2011 in Moscow, when NRCC and CCI of Russia organized the NRBF II: Towards a partnership for modernization on 2-3 November 2011. During the plenary session there were speeches of several prominent speakers both from Russia and Norway. The forum offered more than 350 registered participants from the two respective countries a good opportunity to discuss professional challenges in the five roundtable sessions. Minister of Industry and Trade of Norway Trond Giske, Minister of Economic Development of Russia Elvira Nabiullina and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Viktor Zubkov were participating in the plenary session. The forum was organised in the Congress Centre of the RF CCI. In the evening before the event there was given a reception in the Embassy of Norway in Moscow. On the forum date the participants were invited to a Networking Dinner in Metropol Hotel.
In 2012, the NRBF III took place in Oslo, in the facilities of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), Majorstuen, on 24 October. On the day before the event, participants and guests of the NRBF III joined in on the NRBF Networking Cocktail Event in the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. On the Forum’s date, Minister of Industry and Trade of Norway Trond Giske, Director General of the Russian Energy Agency Kirill Lugovtsev and Aide to the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Boris Morgunov greeted the participants during the opening plenary session. The forum program offered participants (in addition to the two plenary sessions) five parallel sessions. In the evening, the Forum participants were invited to an official reception on the occasion of the NRBF III in the facilities of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Norway.
In 2014, the NRBF IV took place in Moscow. 175 business representatives, diplomats and officials met to discuss the further development of Russian-Norwegian cooperation in trade and industry. The Forum was chaired by President of the NRCC, Liv Monica Stubholt and Vice-president of the CCI of Russia Alexander Rybakov. After the plenary session, the Forum continued with two panel sessions “Entering the Norwegian Market” and “Entering the Russian market”. Among discussed topics were development of the Arctic shelf and other oil and gas projects, attractive areas for investments in the current market situation, improving logistics and infrastructure development, legal aspects of entering Norwegian and Russian markets, and others.
The day before official Forum opening, all the registered Forum participants were invited to the official Forum reception in the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow, hosted by H.E. Norwegian Ambassador to Russia Leidulv Namtvedt.
On 26 October 2016 the Norwegian-Russian Business Forum V was held in Oslo. The event gathered 240 representatives of Russian and Norwegian companies and organizations, as well as public officials from both countries.
As in previous years, NRBF offered a unique arena for discussions of the most important issues of the Norwegian-Russian business cooperation, exchange of experiences, meeting with partners and establishment of new contacts.
Norwegian and Russian representatives from government institutions opened the Forum, followed up by interventions by high-level business experts from Norway and Russia. At the end of each parallel session participants took part in lively panel discussions with the speakers of the Forum.
The following parallel sections were organised within NRBF V framework:
- Norwegian-Russian cooperation within Oil & Gas Sector
- Maritime cooperation Norway-Russia
- Research & Development
- Russian industry, economy & Eurasian development