|
India
- Norway Economic and Commercial Relations
Joint
Ventures, Investments & Technical Collaborations
with Norway
Although, there is no trade agreement
as such between India and Norway., talks for the promotion
of trade have been held under the 1987 Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between India and Norway on Economic,
Industrial and Technological Cooperation.
Other agreements
signed between the two countries are :
Agreement regarding cooperation
of the economic and social development of India (1981
to 1986);
Convention between Norway and India for the avoidance
of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion
with respect to taxes on income and on capital (1986);
Agreement between Norway and India relating to air services
(1995).
The India-Scandinavia trade picture is
as follows :
|
Country
|
Year
|
Two-way (bilateral)
tradeUS$ (approx)
|
|
Norway
|
2003
|
215 million
|
|
Sweden
|
2002
|
328 million
|
|
Denmark
|
2002
|
393 million
|
During the landmark visit to India by
Jens Stoltenberg, the then Norwegian Prime Minister
in April 2001, both Prime Ministers expressed a strong
wish to expand economic and commercial contacts and
cooperation between the two countries.
Medium and small Norwegian companies
are active in India. Several joint ventures have been
established within sectors such as welding equipment,
tools turbine parts and fishing nets. As on date, nearly
40 such Norwegian and Indian companies are working jointly
to improve the bilateral trade between the two countries.
Bilateral trade is as follows :
|
Year
|
Import from India
|
Export to India
|
Total in US$
|
|
2000
|
57.00
|
116.00
|
173.00
|
|
2001
|
51.00
|
102.00
|
153.00
|
|
2002
|
119.19
|
75.55
|
194.74
|
|
2003
|
141.61
|
73.31
|
214.92
|
The balance swung to Norway's favour
in 2002 , following the sale of two new ships to The
Great Eastern Shipping Company. The top five items of
India's exports to Norway are :
|
Sr.No.
|
Description
|
Value (NOK)
|
US$ in million
|
|
1
|
Articles of Apparel
|
263,512,223
|
37,644,603
|
|
2
|
Textile Yarns, Fabrics
|
202,938,689
|
28,991,241
|
|
3
|
Manufacturers of Metals
|
32,117,589
|
4,596,798
|
|
4
|
Misc. Manufactured
Art
|
28,545,708
|
4,077,958
|
|
5
|
Fruit & Vegetables
|
25,425,973
|
3,632,281
|
|
|
Total
|
5,52,600,182
|
78,942,881
|
The top five items of Norway's exports
to India are :
|
Sr.No.
|
Description
|
Value (NOK)
|
US$ in million
|
|
1
|
Transp. Equipment
|
218,818,019
|
31,259,717
|
|
2
|
Office Machines, EDB
|
45,742,503
|
6,534,643
|
|
3
|
Electr. Machinery Appl.
|
32,967,551
|
4,709,650
|
|
4
|
Iron & Steel
|
29,938,032
|
4,276,861
|
|
5
|
General Ind. Machinery
|
27,903,296
|
3,986,185
|
|
|
Total
|
355,369,401
|
50,767,056
|
An Indo-Norwegian Business Forum was
inaugurated by the then Norwegian Minister of Industry
and Trade Grete Knudsen, during her official visit to
India in January, 1996 with the objective of further
strengthening bilateral commercial relations between
the two countries. Efforts were made to strengthen the
commercial relations between Norway and India that are
so important for the further development of our overall
relations in a long term perspective. The largest presence
is in the engineering and machinery sector, followed
by the shipping/maritime, information technology and
chemicals and petroleum sectors, hydro-power.
During 2002, the Mission helped organize
the following trade events in Oslo
13-14 June, 2002 - Annual
Conference and Exhibition of the Speciality Coffee Association
of Europe (SCAE) with the association of Coffee Board,
Bangalore. During the Conference Buyer-Seller Meet was
also organized on 14th June, 2003. The Coffee Board
created a very favourable impression during the conference.
24th June, 2002 - India Tea Festival
with the assistance of Mr. J.S. Raju, Director Tea Promotion,
Tea Board of India, London. In January. 2003, the Mission
helped participation by India Tourist Office, Amsterdam,
in the annual Norwegian Travel and Tourism Fair. The
India Stand at the fair attracted a good number of visitors
on all the four days.
Source: Indian High Commission, Norway
|
