Eivind S. Homme: JP/R. Berto Wedhatama

In its quest for a stronger presence in Asia, Norway, a wealthy Nordic country, has recently begun showing a special interest in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

Like Indonesia, Norway is endowed with a wealth of natural resources including petroleum, natural gas, hydropower, fish, forests and minerals. On top of this, Norway has a US$375 billion oil fund, which invests in bonds, stocks and projects all over the world.

The Norwegian interest comes at the right time for Indonesia, which is desperately looking for new markets and investments in the midst of the global financial crisis.

“We have an excellent relationship with Indonesia. Though we have a number of dimensions to it [the relationship], our main focus is on energy, climate and economic cooperation with regard to Indonesia,” Norway’s new Ambassador to Indonesia Eivind S. Homme told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview in Jakarta.

Ambassador Homme, an adept career diplomat, submitted his credentials to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Aug. 12, 2008.

Norway, which produces around 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, is the leading country in deepwater oil exploration.

In the energy sector, Homme said, the two countries have been working together for a long time.

“Our state oil company StatoilHydro and its Indonesian counterpart PT Pertamina signed a memorandum of understanding in 2006 and a letter of intent in 2007 to cooperate in the energy sector,” Homme said.

StatoilHydro, which opened its office in Jakarta in 2007, has already acquired stakes in two oil and gas blocks in the Makassar Strait under production sharing contracts.

“In Karama block, StatoilHydro has a 51 percent stake and a 40 percent stake in Kuma block, Homme said.

StatoilHydro, which has operations in 40 countries, is also interested in developing the Natuna D-Alpha gas block in Riau, in cooperation with Pertamina.

According to Homme, Statoil has advanced technology and experience in deep sea exploration.

“Natuna has a high content of CO2 [70 percent]. It will be a challenging task technically and commercially. But Statoil has lot of experience in pumping out CO2,” Homme said.

Statoil is competing with other oil giants including ExxonMobil and Shell.

In an effort to boost cooperation in the energy sector, Homme said, Norway has been organizing seminars as well as exchange and training programs in Indonesia and Norway.

On the investment side, the Norwegian Government Pensiun Fund-Global invested $37. 42 million in Indonesia. The same fund had more than $1 billion invested in Indonesia through Rio Tinto until recently. Rio Tinto has a stake in Freeport McMoran, which operates the Grasberg gold and copper mine in Papua.

Homme said that, after oil, the shipping industry is the biggest contributor to Norway’s gross

domestic product. Norway has the world’s second biggest off shore fleet.

“Our shipping companies gave orders to an Indonesian shipbuilder in Batam to build ships. It will be a huge project worth 4.3 billion Norwegian krone ($656 million) lasting for several years” Homme said.

At least 14 vessels will be built at the PT BATAMEC shipyard in Batam.

Bilateral trade between Norway and Indonesia has been growing at a tremendous pace.

In 2008, according to figures from the Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency, bilateral trade surged to $210.07 million, a 57.97 million increase from $132.98 million in 2007. In 2003, bilateral trade value stood just $84.40 million.

Indonesia primarily exports furniture, textiles, shoes and telecommunications equipment to Norway. It imports fertilizers, industrial machinery and some oil (on the spot market).

“I am confident the trade will grow significantly if we include the goods related to ship building in the future,” Homme said.

To address climate issues Norway and Indonesia recently participated in a bilateral energy dialogue in Oslo.

“Norway is financing the UN REDD program, one of the pilot projects on climate change, in Indonesia,” Homme said.

The Norwegian government will appoint a new counselor to its embassy in Jakarta to deal specifically with climate and forestry issues.

Homme also said that Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has invited Indonesia to attend a high-level meeting on Carbon Capture and Storage, which will be held from May 27-28 in Bergen, Norway.

Norway and Indonesia collaborate productively on good governance, democratization and human rights issues.

“We will be spending $10 million on our development cooperation programs. We will be also helping Indonesia’s new initiative, the Bali Democracy Forum, Homme said.

To enhance mutual understanding and bilateral ties, Norway recently hosted the 8th round of the Indonesia-Norway Human Rights Dialogue in Oslo.

Homme, a former officer in the Royal Norwegian Navy, is an explorer himself.

“Before joining the foreign service, I traveled by bicycle from Europe to Africa, Homme said.

Homme joined the foreign service in 1984 and has worked in various positions for Norwegian diplomatic missions in Manila, Rome, Washington and Beijing.

When asked about his hobbies, Homme said he can’t play golf in Jakarta.

“I used to play golf but I can’t play it here. I like to spend my spare time with my two young children,” Homme said.

He and his family are enjoying their stay in Indonesia.

“Indonesian people are very kind and friendly. They have a very rich and diverse culture. I and my family like here very much,” Homme said.

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