Norway-RI to hold technology seminar

JAKARTA (JP): A 140-member delegation of governmental officials, scientists and businesspeople from Norway is expected to arrive here next week to hold discussions with their Indonesian counterparts in a seminar on technology.

Norwegian Ambassador Jan Wessel Hegg announced yesterday that the three-day seminar from Oct. 15 to Oct. 17 will be held at the Agency for Technology Assessment and Application (BPPT) building under the co-sponsorship of the agency and the Norwegian Research Council.

The "Norwegian-Indonesian Science and Technology for Sustainable Development" seminar will be jointly opened by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie and Norway's Minister of Trade and Energy Jens Stoltenberg, who will lead the delegation.

Hegg said that the delegation's visit is a follow-up to the official visit by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland to Indonesia in September last year.

"In her conversation with President Soeharto, both leaders agreed that it would be natural for Norway and Indonesia to work together in the cause for sustainable development," Hegg said.

The seminar will focus on technologies for oil and gas, marine and maritime, hydropower, environment, aquaculture and information, he said.

Trulyanti Sutrasno, a deputy chairwoman at BPPT, will chair the seminar's steering committee together with the ambassador. Trulyanti said that after the seminar the Norwegian delegation will tour several companies in Indonesia, including the state- owned PAL shipbuilding firm in Surabaya, the state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) in Bandung.

Stoltenberg is also scheduled to meet with Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana, Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo, top executives from state-owned oil company Pertamina and members of the National Commission on Human Rights. (jsk)