NIB 50 seminar: Northern Horizons – Defending Sustainable Growth
Together with our stakeholders, we marked 50 years since the Nordic countries signed the agreement to found the Nordic Investment Bank. In Copenhagen, speakers revisited the decision to found NIB in 1975 and explored how the Bank has responded to shifting political, economic and security realities – from Russia’s war in Europe and record Arctic heatwaves to the largest rearmament drive since the Cold War – asking how the Nordic model can continue to combine welfare, security and climate leadership.
In his opening words, Anders Adlercreutz, Finland’s Minister for Nordic Co-operation, Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers 2025, said:
“Exactly 50 years ago, one of my predecessors, both as party leader and minister in charge of Nordic co-operation in the Finnish Government, Mr. Kristian Gestrin, met his Nordic colleagues in Christiansborg here in Copenhagen to sign the agreement to establish the NIB. I carry that legacy with pride and joy as we celebrate this milestone.”
Karen Dortea Abelskov, Deputy Permanent Secretary and Director of Denmark’s Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, said she was happy “to celebrate that a good idea from 50 years ago has tuned into a great bank”.
“But even though many positive things have happened since the 70s when the NIB was founded, I believe it is fair to say overall that times are more challenging today than fifty years ago, or even 20 years ago when the Baltic countries joined the bank,” Abelskov said in her welcoming words.
“We face a geopolitical situation without precedents in the history of NIB. There is war in Europe due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The subtitle of today’s event “Defending sustainable growth”, captures our challenges very well.”
The founding of NIB
The first panel of the event reflected on the decision to establish NIB in 1975, how the Bank has responded to political and economic developments since, and its relevance going forward.
Watch the discussion featuring Johanna Lybeck Lilja, State Secretary to Swedish Minister for Finance, former President and CEO of NIB, Henrik Normann, and author of NIB’s history, Byron Rom-Jensen, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Oslo. The discussion was moderated by Jukka Ahonen, Head of Communications, NIB.
Defending Sustainable Growth
The second panel discussed whether we could merge security and sustainability, i.e. is it possible to protect our welfare and remain global leaders on climate while establishing strong collective security as the same time?
Watch the discussion with Lene Skole, CEO, Lundbeck Foundation debating with Steffen Syvertsen, CEO, Å Energi, and Esa Rautalinko, President and CEO, Patria. The debate was moderated by Lillian Kretz, who was also Master of Ceremony for the seminar.
Stronger together
In his closing speech, André Küüsvek, President and CEO, Nordic Investment Bank spoke about how the visionary leaders of the Nordics, 50 years ago, “chose to cement the cooperation and to tackle the challenges together”.
“They chose the long-term impact over short term worries. That choice has shaped decades of growth, stability and innovation in our region. The NIB has been an integral part of that for the past fifty years. For the past 20 years, the NIB has also been part of the joint Nordic-Baltic unity,” said Küüsvek, adding “By backing the ideas and investments of our clients, we have built bridges—sometimes literally—between our economies, our institutions and most importantly people.”
“Tonight, we honour the institution that was born from a simple but very powerful idea; that the Nordic countries are stronger together.”