All posts by Margrethe Harboe

Norway – Defense Articles and Services Related to the MH-60RMulti-Mission Helicopters

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2023 – The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Norway of MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopters and related equipment for an estimated cost of $1 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale.

Read full article.

 

Equinor Wants to Open Airspace Over North Sea Rigs for Drone Use

Equinor ASA and Norwegian airport regulator Avinor aim to make “advanced drone operations” over the North Sea common place to make it easier to inspect rigs and cut down the vast distances between the oil and gas platforms.

Establishing an unmanned air traffic system will make it easier to employ drones up and down Norway’s coast, with Equinor anticipating thousands of flights between installations in the coming years, Equinor’s executive vice president for technology, digital and innovation, Hege Skryseth, said Thursday. The company is also looking into using underwater drones, with a test run planned for May.

Read full article.

Two-thirds of car sales could be electric by 2032 under new Biden proposal

Two-thirds of new car sales could be electric by 2032 under a new proposal released by the Biden administration on Wednesday. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects that 67 percent of new light-duty passenger cars sold in the U.S. could be electric that year under its new proposed clean car regulations.

For medium-duty vehicles, the share of news sales that are electric could be 46 percent. 

Read full article.

AmCham 2023 AGM & Transatlantic Business Assembly

AmCham Annual General Meeting & Transatlantic Business Assembly 2023: 65 Years of Advancing Transatlantic Business

Managing Director Jason Turflinger welcomed guests to AmCham’s Annual General Meeting, presenting the organization’s performance over the past year. Hosted at Yara, the meeting also commemorated 65 years since AmCham’s inception. AmCham Chair Ketil Nordengen acknowledged that since being founded in 1958 as the American Club, many deep-rooted US companies have and continue to contribute heavily to Norway’s societal and economic prosperity. Norwegian companies, in turn, continue to expand their US footprints – employing thousands of Americans. Connectivity, friendship, and the advancement of bilateral value chains are, and always have been, at the core of AmCham’s ethos.

Board Treasurer Michael Klem presented AmCham’s robust non-profit 2022 financials and, thereafter, nominees for AmCham’s volunteer Board of Directors were announced and confirmed – with Ketil Nordengen reelected as Chair. Returning Board member Elisabeth Hellemose, AIG, was newly confirmed as AmCham’s First Vice Chair, and Ellen Teresa Heyerdahl, Thommessen, was welcomed as a new Board member. Outgoing member Stanley Stewart was sincerely thanked for his three years of Board service.

Incentives for a Green Transition

The Transatlantic Assembly was then opened, with remarks by Svein Tore Holsether who leads Yara International, an organization responsible for the most important innovation of all time, fertilizer. Following Holsether, Nikolai Astrup, Member of Stortinget’s Standing Committee on Energy & Environment Energy, held a keynote on the overarching topic of the evening; Norway’s position in regard to security, climate and strategic autonomy.

 

TransatlanticAssembly2023-43
Picture: Milimo Media
Picture: Milimo Media

The evening’s panel discussion featured the above keynote speakers and special guest panelists Kristine Dahl Steidel, Managing Director at Microsoft Norge, Sharon Hudson-Dean, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, and Cathrine Thomassen, General Manager at GE Healthcare.

Addressing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), general panelist sentiment was that it will serve well to focus on the intention of accelerated sustainable development. “Although the IRA has by some been defined as protectionist, at the end of the day it’s a domestic piece of legislation that aims to have a global, positive climate impact, with the opportunity to commercialize and scale for added benefit.” In addition to green investments being a current and future defining factor for business success, there was consensus that technology will also be the driver in years ahead. There was a broad willingness for businesses and governments to collaborate in order to reach goals as efficiently as possible.  

65 & 20!

Not only did the evening mark 65 years since the inception of the organization, but also Managing Director Jason Turflinger’s 20 years at the helm of the organization – as acknowledged warmly by Ketil Nordengen: “AmCham is forever grateful for all the work and dedication you have put down for all these years, we would not be where we are today without your vision and strong leadership.”

Before convening for American wines, guests were presented with a creative tale of Norwegian-US relations by Thor Morten Wangen of Geelmuyden Kiese.

AmCham thanks everyone for an informative, enjoyable evening – with a renewed promise to continue advancing transatlantic business for decades to come!

AmCham Board of Directors

Ketil

Chair

Ketil Nordengen

3M – Director Global Sales Effectiveness

First Vice Chair

Elisabeth Hellemose

AIG Europe Limited – Branch Manager Norway

Lea

Second Vice Chair

Charlie Lea

KPMG – Partner

Treasurer

Michael Klem

SR-Bank Forretningspartner – Associate

 

Liaison

Vidar Keyn

US Embassy – Head of Commercial Section

Director

Muhammed Ali

MSD Norway – Managing Director

Director

Andreas Berg

Tailormade Consulting – Managing Director

Kristine-Beitland

Director

Kristine Beitland

Microsoft Norge – Corporate Affairs Director

Director

Ellen Teresa Heyerdahl

Thommessen – Partner

Director

Per Hynne

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Norway – Head of Public Affairs, Communication & Sustainability

Director

Pål Rokke

Citi Norway – Country Officer

Director

Trine Strømsnes

Cisco Norge – Managing Director

Director

Thomas Vogth-Eriksen

DNV – Director of Certification

Yara and Enbridge plan $2.9 bln ammonia plant in Texas

Norwegian fertiliser maker Yara (YAR.OL) and Canadian pipeline company Enbridge (ENB.TO) plan to invest up to $2.9 billion to build a low-carbon blue ammonia production plant in Texas, they said on Friday.

Blue ammonia, rather than green ammonia derived from renewable energy, refers to ammonia produced from natural gas, with the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct captured and stored.

The plant, which would be Yara’s biggest, would be built at an Enbridge oil storage and export facility near Corpus Christi, with production to start around 2027-28.

Read full article.

AmCham EU: Launch of The Transatlantic Economy 2023

The Transatlantic Economy 2023 presents the most up-to-date facts and figures about the economic relationship between Europe and the United States. The research was conducted independently by Daniel Hamilton and Joseph Quinlan at the Foreign Policy Institute, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and the Transatlantic Leadership Network.

This edition features new insights into the impact of the war in Ukraine, international sanctions on Russia, transatlantic energy transformations, the reconfiguration of global supply chains with ‘derisking’ strategies, relations with China as well as the green and digital transitions. It also includes individual profiles for 30+ European countries, with Ukraine surveyed for the first time, and all 50 US states.This year marks the 20th edition of The Transatlantic Economy, the annual survey of transatlantic jobs, trade and investment.

Read report.

Norway to buy six Sikorsky helicopters for $1.1 bln to monitor its seas

OSLO, March 14 (Reuters) – Norway’s military plans to buy six Seahawk helicopters for 12 billion crowns ($1.14 billion) from Lockheed Martin’s (LMT.N) Sikorsky, the defence minister said on Tuesday, to boost its ability to monitor its vast seas and Arctic territory.

The NATO member, which shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, is responsible for monitoring some 2 million square km (772,000 square miles) of sea and has long been seeking to boost its monitoring capacity.

Read full article.
 

AmCham Financial Forum: Elevated Insurance Risks, Nuclear US Verdicts, and Employee Romance Fraud

AmCham Financial Forum: Elevated Insurance Risks, Nuclear US Verdicts, and Employee Romance Fraud

Member and partner leaders gathered at WTW’s Skøyen office for our quarterly Financial Forum. This session focused on Elevated Insurance Risks, Nuclear US Verdicts, and Employee Romance Fraud. 

Multinational WTW, formerly Willis Towers Watson, provides data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk, and capital. WTW Norway’s Camilla Arnesen and Sara Hjelmberg informed participants on the state of the market with rising insurance premiums, key drivers for increased claims costs, and developing US liability considerations and impacts.

Presenters

Camilla Arnesen – Senior Broker Casualty & Financial Lines

Sara Hjelmberg – Practice Lead Casualty & Financial Lines

Howard Cooper – Managing Director & Global Co-Head of Financial Investigations Practice

Justine Radnedge – Senior Manager

Unraveling the International Laundering Machine

Headquartered in New York City, Kroll is an independent, global corporate investigation firm providing anti-corruption risk consulting for M&A, IPO and supply chain due diligence.

London-based, Howard Cooper and Justine Radnedge joined us for an update on how criminals are increasingly targeting employees to become unwitting co-conspirators in major fraud.

Cooper, the Managing Director and Global Co-Head of the Financial Investigations Practice, shared a shocking case study involving a romantic connection made via LinkedIn that ended up costing the victimized company $250 million.

There has been an increase in external threats and criminal organizations are becoming more sophisticated and systematic. The critical weakness is the human aspect, meaning that every employee is a potential liability to the company.

Radnedge went on to cover the processes that Kroll deploys to track down criminal organizations as well as compliance protocols companies should make sure to astutely follow such situations.

About the AmCham Financial Forum

AmCham’s collaborative Financial Forum enables cross-industry leaders to openly exchange and learn from their peers – building a better understanding of what it takes to maintain successful international operations in Norway.

Read more about our Financial Forum and please contact Madeleine.brekke@amcham.no for interest in future meetings

Kroll Slide 1
IMG_20230302_091521 cropped

Previous Forums