VN, Norway promote multifaceted cooperation
VGP - PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse will pay an official visit to Norway from May 24-26 at the invitation of Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
The two countries established diplomatic ties in November, 1971.
Positive economic and investment ties
Two-way trade turnover hit US$ 363 million and US$ 354 million in 2018 and 2017, respectively.
Viet Nam exports apparel, footwear, wooden furniture, and cashew to Norway and imports seafood, machinery, equipment, fertilizers, chemicals, steel and iron from the country.
Norway established a section called Innovation Norway at its Embassy in Viet Nam in 2006 and the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on trade cooperation assistance and the establishment of a bilateral working group in November the same year.
Viet Nam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) that groups Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein launched negotiations for their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in March, 2012, and have so far conducted 16 rounds of talks.
The EFTA has already recognized Viet Nam’s market economy status.
Norway is running 41 projects with total registered investment capital of US$ 166 million, ranking 41st among 130 countries and territories investing in Viet Nam.
About 40 Norwegian businesses are operating in Viet Nam, 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, Ha Noi, and the northern city of Hai Phong.
Their projects have engaged mostly in the manufacturing of timber, construction materials and interior design products; agriculture, forestry, and aquaculture; information and communications.
Vietnamese businesses have yet invested directly in any projects in Norway.
The two countries resumed their development cooperation following the signing of a framework agreement on development cooperation in October 1996.
Fruitfully development cooperation
Norway is one of the largest donators for Viet Nam in the United Nations Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) by providing US$ 30 million for the UN-REDD in Viet Nam from 2013-2015 under a joint statement signed in December 2012.
Norway-funded projects in education, health care, natural resources management and renewable energy.
So far, Norway provided a total aid of US$320 million for Viet Nam.
Cultural cooperation between the two countries has been boosted.
Norway provided scholarships for lecturers and researchers from Vietnamese universities and research institutes, along with suportingtrain officials in human rights and peacekeeping for Viet Nam.
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./.
By Khanh Phuong
