Happy New Year

I trust you all have had a peaceful and joyous Christmas with your loved ones, wherever and however you had to celebrate the holidays this year.

As we bid farewell to 2020 (or perhaps "good riddance", some would say), I'd like to take a moment to thank you all for your continued support of the Norwegian Chamber of Commerce. It has been a most unusual year, and activity has been at an all-time low. First, we have last year's protests, and then COVID-19 showed up. There can be no doubt that it has greatly affected each and every one of us.

We had to cancel both the 17th of May celebration and the Christmas Party this year - although we did manage to enjoy a virtual 17th of May celebration via Zoom.

As we in HK now transition through what is called the "4th wave", we continue to go about our lives, but in the "new normal" - all masked up, frequently using hand rub alcohol or fervently washing our hands, and by staying properly socially distanced. We should remember what effort it took by each and one of us, to keep the virus at bay. Some will perhaps look back and laugh, some will look back and cry, and some will not look back at all. I think we can safely say that 2020 goes into the garbage pile of history for most of us.

But let's look ahead. Vaccines have started rolling out and home test kits and rapid tests are starting to get medical approvals and hitting the market. These are things that will ultimately lead to the opening up of society and normalizing of travel in the long run.

On behalf of NorCham HK I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Thanks again, stay safe, and bring on 2021!

Hans Fr. Bredesen

Chairman, NorCham HK