News Highlight
Bilateral trade between India and Norway has doubled to $2 billion in the last two years, Norway’s Ambassador to India, Hans Jacob Frydenlund, said on Monday.
Key Takeaway
- Norway would invest $1 billion from its climate investment fund in five years worldwide, Mr Frydenlund said, adding that how much of the funds would be invested in India would depend on the projects.
India and Norway relations
- Economic Relations
- Exports from Norway to India include electronic goods, general industrial
- machinery, scientific control equipment, artificial resins, plastic materials, and non-ferrous metals.
- While the main items of export from India to Norway include transport equipment, apparel, cotton yarn and fabrics, miscellaneous manufactured articles, metals, non-metal mineral items, paper products, cashew, furniture, travel goods, leather items, coffee, tea, spices and footwear.
- Investments
- Around 100 Norwegian companies are engaged in India through joint ventures with Indian partners or wholly owned subsidiaries in areas such as shipbuilding, petroleum-related services, marine/sub-sea drilling equipment, hydropower, clean energy, and IT services.
- Science and Technology
- India’s Polar Research Station “Himadri” was inaugurated at Svalbard in Norway in 2008.
- Energy investment
- India is one of the countries with a significant potential for solar energy. Most of the investment from Norway has been in solar energy infrastructure.
- Norway is working with the National Institute of Wind Energy for both onshore and offshore wind energy.
- Task Force on Blue Economy
- In 2020, both countries inaugurated the India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy for Sustainable Development jointly.
- The task force’s purpose is to develop and follow up on joint initiatives between the two countries.
- Ship recycling
- Norway has the fifth-largest commercial fleet in the world, and ship recycling was crucial to keep up a modern fleet, both for environmental and competitive reasons.
- India has a sizeable ship-breaking industry, especially in Alang in Gujarat. So Norway cooperated closely with India for ship recycling.
- Further, India also joined Hong Kong Convention as per the request of Norway.
- Creation of digital archives in India
- A Norwegian company was involved in creating a digital archive for Indian monuments such as the Taj Mahal.
- The company was also digitalising historical monuments — Dholavira in Gujarat and the Bhimbhetka Caves in Madhya Pradesh.
- Cultural Relations
- The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Indian child rights activist Shri Kailash Satyarthi (jointly with Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai) by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in 2014 in Oslo for “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”
- Indian Community
- There are 90,000 Indians (1.5% of the population) in Norway as of 2020.
- According to Norwegian Immigration Department figures, India has become the leading source of foreign skilled professionals working in Norway.
Content Source: The Hindu