Asbjørn Warvik Rørtveit has completed his 5-year term as seafood envoy to Southeast Asia.
Photo: Sverre Sander Stenseth, Norwegian Seafood Council
The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) has announced that from April 22, Asbjørn Warvik Rørtveit will be the new seafood envoy to the Middle East.
Last summer, he completed his 5-year term as seafood envoy to Southeast Asia and has since led the integration of the seafood industry into the government's All of Norway exports initiative.
"It will be particularly important to build close relationships with importers and grocery chains in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, to be able to jointly carry out campaigns for, among other things, salmon and cod that have the greatest possible effect on awareness, preference, and demand," Rørtveit specified.
For the past two years, the position has been held by Ingelill Jacobsen alongside Ørjan Olsen. "Ingelill has done a very good job developing the region through close collaboration with the industry and a wide range of activities in the Middle East, and we thank her for her efforts," said NSC Director of Global Operations, Børge Grønbech.
Since the trade agreement was implemented between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 2014, Norwegian seafood exports to the six Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf tripled from 7,800 tons in 2014 to 23,600 tons in 2023.
The trade agreement between EFTA and GCC was negotiated in 2008, signed in 2009, and came into effect on July 1, 2014. The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). NSC planned to establish an office in Dubai, but due to instability in the region, this decision has been postponed.
"We will be participating with a Norwegian pavilion at the Saudi Food Show from 12-14 May, where several Norwegian exporters will participate. It will be important for me to have close dialogue with the exporters to develop the region by the industry's ambitions and expectations," Rørtveit assured.
