Vestland - Sogndal

Key Activities in 2021

• We awarded grants and loans amounting to a total of NOK 1.3 billion to businesses in the region. These included significant loans for the fishing and coastal shipping fleets, and important environmental technology grants for zero-emission technology and the green shift. In 2021 we handed out crisis packages to tourism and other industries.
• We launched Green Region Vestland in conjunction with the Vestland County Council. Green Region Vestland is designed to contribute towards Vestland becoming a zero-emission county by 2030 and to increasing mainland exports by 50 per cent by 2030. Through the work of Green Region Vestland we have identified 250 potential innovation projects spread across 16 maritime, industrial, bioeconomy and marine sector hubs.
• The region has sound industrial businesses involved in green value chains that are key for restructuring the Norwegian economy. These include green shipping, hydrogen, battery technology, seafood and offshore wind. Thanks to our contribution the region continued to obtain EU funding for its green maritime innovation projects.
• Ocean Hyway Cluster was awarded Arena Pro status. This cluster is a leading network in respect of hydrogen-based solutions for the maritime sector.
• We actively participated in Vestland’s Innovation Festival, Innovation Week OPP, and we were responsible for several events which included holding export lunches with our local offices each day during the week.
• Our Capital Day was held physically in 2021 in Førde. There were around 100 participants and it was also streamed and shared on various platforms. A total of 22 speed-dates were conducted between start-up companies from the county and investors and capital providers.
• We boosted our internationalisation initiatives and several businesses from Vestland attended our international programmes such as Global Growth and Global Gateways.

Funding in 2021

The figures shown below apply to Vestland.