A delegation from Tromso, Norway, is visiting Portland this week in an effort to boost trade between the two cities.

Tromso is located 217 miles above the Arctic Circle and is the headquarters of the Arctic Council and Arctic Economic Council. The visiting delegation includes representatives from 12 businesses and Tromso city officials, according to a news release from the Maine North Atlantic Development Office. The three-day trip was scheduled to start Wednesday and includes meetings between Norway and southern Maine companies interested in biotech innovation, marine sciences, aquaculture, and food and beverage industries.

The trip was organized by the development office, the Maine International Trade Center and Ramboll, a global engineering and management consulting firm with offices in Portland and Tromso. It is part of a broader initiative to boost trade and collaboration between ports in Maine, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway, Miranda Henning, managing principal of Ramboll’s Portland office, said in a written statement.

“We have experienced firsthand the similarities in culture, appetites and recognition of quality shared by Mainers and Norwegians,” Henning said. “The business, research and public sectors in Tromso are interested in learning more and establishing partnerships in Maine.”

Portland hosted a conference of the Arctic Council last year, the first time the meeting had been held in the U.S. outside of Alaska.

Peter McGuire can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:

pmcguire@pressherald.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire

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