Bilateral economic relations, foreign direct investments, cooperation in the critical raw materials sector and the space economy: these were the key topics at the meeting held at Palazzo Piacentini in Rome between the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, and the Minister of Trade and Industry of the Kingdom of Norway, Cecilie Terese Myrseth.

The discussion follows the one held last May in Tromsø during the minister's mission to Norway, which concluded with the signing of a joint declaration between the two countries that defined the objectives and modalities of bilateral cooperation in high value-added industrial sectors through partnerships on critical raw materials, space, and defense.

“With Norway, we share the goal of building solid and resilient supply chains, strengthening the key assets for European industrial autonomy. We are working to create ever more cooperation that responds to global challenges and aims for a safer, more sustainable, and competitive growth of our strategic supply chains", declared Urso.

During the conversation, the ministers highlighted the need to implement the May agreement through the creation of a ‘Joint Working Group’ aimed at developing concrete and coordinated responses to common challenges by dividing the work into two thematic subgroups, respectively dedicated to critical raw materials and the aerospace sector.

Regarding this, Urso, in his capacity as the delegated Authority for space and aerospace policies, reaffirmed to Myrseth Italy’s support for Norway’s accession to the regulated public service of the European Union’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and to the European Iris 2 program.

The minister also underscored the importance of the upcoming ESA ministerial conference, scheduled for November 26 and 27 in Bremen, and confirmed Italy’s willingness to candidly seek the presidency of the CM25. The central issue of defining ESA’s next budget, estimated at around 23 billion Euros, was also highlighted to the Norwegian counterpart—a figure that will require careful evaluation in terms of overall sustainability.

Finally, they stressed the importance of promoting concrete initiatives to strengthen collaboration in energy and renewable sources. In this respect, the minister welcomed Norway’s proposal to organize, in the coming months, a bilateral event involving companies and industrial stakeholders from both countries to explore potential synergies, promote industrial alliances, and define common objectives in strategic sectors.