Ladies and Gentlemen Dear friends!

! It is a great pleasure to open this conference on research and higher education in developing countries. This is a highly topical issue, and it is positive that the Ministry of Education and Research could contribute to this conference. It is timely to focus on how research and higher education can play an important role in order to create growth and progress in developing countries. I commend the board of the Abel Fund and the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights for bringing this issue into the spotlight. I am really happy to have this opportunity, and I can see from the participants list that we have with us here guests from all over the world and from disciplines within the Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences as well as Medicine. Norway, as most industrialized countries, has an ambitious research policy. We aim to increase the research effort both in fundamental research and in prioritized thematic areas where Norway has particular interests, needs or advantages. Higher education is likewise a priority, with a growing share of the population completing higher education. At the same time we have an active ongoing debate in society on how we may achieve an even higher quality in our higher education system. The reason is, of course, the importance of knowledge - of education, research, technology and innovation - for the development of our societies. An importance that is only growing in our globalized world. Historically, research and higher education have not been a central concern within development initiatives. Donor institutions have tended to place more emphasis on primary and, more recently, secondary education in their development assistance. An important reason is that there has been little empirical evidence of economic benefits for the population as a whole, let alone specifically for the poor. Most studies found higher returns to individuals from primary and secondary schooling than the returns from higher education. However, new evidence suggests that higher education can significantly increase incomes and the rate of economic growth. One important factor is that higher education improves the graduates' awareness of and ability to use new technologies. Robert Solow, winner of the Nobel Prize for economics, holds that 80 % of economic growth is connected to technological advances. Other

researchers will give lower estimates, but there is still a broad consensus on the importance of research and technology for growth and welfare. This implies that research and higher education is not just important for industrialised countries, but forms a vital part of the path towards growth and progress in developing countries. It is clearly not a luxury for developing countries to focus on research and higher education - it is rather a necessity in the fight against poverty. The situation today is that research efforts are very unevenly distributed between different countries and regions. Some industrialized countries conduct the greater part of the worlds research. This picture has several problematic consequences for the developing countries that do not have a large share in the global research effort. On the one hand, most research is directed at problems and questions that are related to the needs of the industrialized countries where the research is conducted. In medical research, this is particularly so: it is estimated that around 90 percent of the research effort is related to the needs of 10 percent of the worlds population. On the other hand, a certain level of education, research and technology competence is necessary to benefit from knowledge developed elsewhere. There is, you could say, an entrance ticket to take part in the international knowledge development. These challenges are pointed out in our last White Paper on research, which was presented to Parliament in 2005 and which is still in force. Norway, together with other industrialized countries may contribute to meet these challenges in several ways. One is to work for more funding to research directed at solving problems in countries that do not have the capacity to invest much in research. Another is by working to enhance the international exchange of knowledge, including the developing countries. Yet another is to integrate research and higher education as means in development policy. These measures are all part of Norwegian policy. To follow up on the last point, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs last year commissioned a report on how a more knowledge based development policy could be developed. You will hear more about this report and how the government is following up its recommendations from my

colleague from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Secretary Hkon Gulbrandsen, tomorrow. There is also growing awareness internationally of the need to enhance the role of higher education, science and technology within aid and development policies. In our efforts to reach the UN Millennium Goals, capacity building within research and education in developing countries must be given a high priority. It is positive that the first formal meeting of the G8 science ministers, which will take place in Japan later this year, will address capacity development in developing countries as one of the main points on the agenda. I mentioned the need to pay an entrance ticket to take part in the international development of knowledge. This also points to a positive fact about the relation between efforts in research and benefits of research; they are not necessarily equal. Technology can be said to be a particular economical good in the sense that one does not have to share in the costs of the development to share in the benefits of the use. Although the development of new technology may be very expensive, the price of using technology may be very low. Therefore, technology developed elsewhere is often an important driving force in a countrys economical development. But to go on such a technological free ride, so to speak, knowledge is required. Both for small countries and poor countries, which must rely on other countries technology development in many fields, a broad knowledge base within research and higher education is therefore very important. The contribution to economic growth is an important function of research and higher education, but far from the only one. They also contribute to the development of democracy and good government in several ways. Research and higher education in all fields represent a critical awareness, and contribute to the open, qualified debate which is vital for a modern democracy. Moreover, the application of this critical awareness in the fields of social and human sciences can provide knowledge needed for good government. That government must be knowledge based is widely acknowledged in our times. This means that we need research to choose efficient and well functioning systems and structures, and to find out if policy measures and reforms are working the way they were intended. Education, health and welfare are just some examples of areas of

great importance to a society, and where each country needs relevant knowledge on which to base its policy making. It is therefore also important for developing countries to build capacity in social and human sciences, both to develop the knowledge needed at the national level to make good choices concerning government and administration, and to benefit from knowledge of transnational and transregional relevance developed elsewhere. International cooperation is a priority in our research and higher education policy, as it is for many other countries. The cooperation with developing countries is a part of this picture, though the focus of the cooperation and measures to support it will of course be different related to different countries. In general, we encourage cooperation based on relations or agreements between institutions rather than just on personal contacts. We certainly need enthusiastic individuals to be driving forces in international cooperation, but when the cooperation is rooted in institutional ties, sustainability and good working conditions are easier to secure. Part of Norways support to higher education and research in developing countries is channelled through Norwegian universities and university colleges in partnership models. One program supports the development and management of master programs, based on cooperation between higher education institutions in Norway and partner institutions in developing countries (The NOMA program). Another program (NUFU) supports cooperation projects directed at building capacity within research based education at universities in the south. I have myself participated in many of these programmes as I had this task at the University of Troms, and I like to underline on specific aspect: Programs like this, institutionally based as links between universities if good and carried out well can survive for long time spans maybe because while NGOs[1] tend to come and go universities persist. For Norway, a main aim in international cooperation is improved quality in research and higher education. And it is important to keep the quality aspect in mind also when discussing capacity building in education and research as part of development policies. Although the aim is not to establish research or education institutions at the highest

international level, it is essential that internationally acknowledged standards are followed in the efforts to build capacity and competence. Because the interest in higher education is growing, and not all states have the capacity to offer education to all who seek it, cross-border trade in education is on the rise. A wide range of new educational offers have emerged, and unfortunately not all of them deliver what they promise. To meet the challenges linked to increased transnational trade in education, UNESCO and OECD in cooperation have developed Guidelines for Quality Provisions in Cross-border Higher Education. The guidelines aim at ensuring that students have access to education of good quality and relevance, while at the same time respecting each countrys autonomy over higher education as a measure in national policies. In Europe, the Bologna-process is very important for the development of higher education. Norway is a part of this process, which aims at developing a common European area of higher education, with comparable structures. But the process also has an external dimension. The Bologna reforms have created considerable interest and stimulated discussion between European and international partners on a range of issues. These include the recognition of qualifications and the benefits of cooperation based upon partnership, mutual trust and understanding. There are also efforts in different regions of the world to reform higher education systems, bringing them more closely into line with the Bologna framework. This autumn, my ministry will present a White Paper on internationalization in education to Parliament. The White Paper will cover the whole range of international cooperation, and strategies and measures in our cooperation with developing countries will also be addressed in this connection. I have pointed to the Bologna-process and the UNESCO/OECD cooperation on guidelines as examples of important international processes relevant to the discussion of the theme which is our focus today. I believe that international cooperation, for example in multilateral organisations within the UN system, is essential to develop good frameworks and guidelines concerning quality assurance and recognition of qualifications. The efforts to build research and

education capacity in developing countries must be based on such frameworks and guidelines. In this light, it is very positive that international scientific organizations, like the International Mathematics Union, are engaged in capacity building in developing countries. Their effort may complement the work of other organizations, since they have a different perspective and other contacts and networks. The aim of capacity building in higher education and research should always be to build on and involve the scientific communities in the developing countries themselves, and international scientific organizations are of course well placed to achieve this. The Norwegian government is impressed with the work of the International Mathematical Union, and supports this work through the financial contribution from the Abel Fund. In conclusion, I wish to underline that strengthening the capacity for research and higher education in developing countries is also a question of strengthening science. The human resources are out there, and we all stand to loose if talents in developing countries are not given the opportunity to contribute to the global scientific development. I know that you have an interesting programme today and tomorrow, where politicians, academics and representatives of international organizations will relate their experiences working in this challenging and very important field. I am pleased that the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has offered the organisers their beautiful building as the location for the conference; this way the conference will give you something both for the mind and for the eyes. I wish you all a fruitful conference. Thank you for your attention.