PM Phuc arrives in Oslo for official visit to Norway

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife begin their official visit to Norway at the invitation of Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

Prominent guests welcoming Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his delegation at the airport included Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marianne Hagen, Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Grete Lochen, Vietnamese Ambassador to Norway Nguyen Hong Cuong and his wife alongside Vietnamese embassy staff and Vietnamese community representatives in Norway.

As scheduled, on May 24, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is to hold talks with his Norwegian counterpart, have meetings with the King and the President of the Storting (Norwegian Parliament), attend the Vietnam-Norway Business Forum and receive some Norwegian business leaders.

Norwegian Government officials welcome PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The Norway visit by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc takes place amid the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the two nations’ diplomatic relations (1971-2021).

Bilateral trade hit US$363 million in 2018, with Vietnam exporting primarily apparel, footwear, wooden furniture, and cashew to Norway and importing mostly seafood, machinery, equipment, fertilizers, chemicals, steel and iron from the country.

In November 2006 both nations signed a memorandum of understanding on trade cooperation assistance and the establishment of a bilateral working group with the aim of boosting trade-investment activities.

Norway is running 41 projects with a total registered investment capital of US$166 million, ranking 41st among 130 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Some 40 Norwegian businesses are operating in Vietnam, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern province of Binh Duong, the southern city of Vung Tau, the south central province of Khanh Hoa, Hanoi, and the northern city of Hai Phong.

Their projects mostly focus on the manufacturing of timber, construction materials and interior design products; agriculture, forestry, and aquaculture; information and communications.

Vietnamese embassy staff and Vietnamese community representatives in Norway greet PM Phuc and his delegation at the airport.

Norway is one of the largest sponsors for Vietnam in the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) as it pledged to finance more than US$30 million for the UN-REDD in Vietnam from 2013-2015 under a joint statement signed in December 2012.

Norway-funded projects in education, health care, natural resources management and renewable energy have been implemented well in Vietnam.

The two countries signed a number of agreements, including the one on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion, the other on articles and mutual procedures for development cooperation, the agreement on economic and trade cooperation, and a memorandum of understanding on child adoption.

Currently, Norway provides great support for Vietnam in the process of boosting renovation, poverty reduction and international integration.

Looking back over the past four decades, the relationship between Vietnam and Norway has seen the healthy and stable growth across multiple fields. Nearly half a decade of enjoying sound relations is a solid foundation for Vietnam-Norway friendship to continue to bear fruit.

According to Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam, Grete Lochen, the two countries can cooperate more effectively in many fields, especially the green and sustainable marine economy as they have long coastlines and developed fisheries for centuries. Both Vietnam and Norway are named among the top ten largest seafood exporting countries in the world.

The visit to Norway by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc aims to foster the traditional friendship and all-around cooperation, especially trade and investment, between the two countries.