The total investments by Norwegian companies in Qatar has reached nearly $10bn, which is expected to increase sharply as companies from both sides are working to expand the level of cooperation in the existing as well as new areas, the visiting Minister of Trade and Industry of Norway Torbjorn Roe Isaksen told reporters on the sidelines of an event, late on Monday.
Isaksen also expressed his optimism that the level of bilateral trade volume will also witness significant increase in the years as both sides are working to deep trade and economic ties.
“The Norwegian investment in Qatar has reached nearly $10bn, which is likely to increase in the coming years. We look forward to have it increased significantly as both sides are exploring opportunities in areas in which Qatari and Norwegian economies are more complementary to each other. We are also looking forward to expand cooperation in the field of maritime technology, energy, industrial production among other areas where Norwegian companies are in the lead,” Isaksen said.
Minister Isaksen accompanied HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, who was here to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of joint venture (JV) between Norwegian companies such as Hydro with Qafco, the first JV that laid the foundation of Qatar’s industrialisation project.
Isaksen added: “After the JV between Hydro and Qafco, the economic cooperation between Qatar and Norway increased into many other sectors including defence, maritime industries, and technology development. And now we are looking to expand it further for another 50 years or beyond.”
The trade minister was speaking to reports on the sidelines of a gala dinner hosted by Norwegian companies in Qatar in honour of the visiting HRH Crown Prince, which was attended by many dignitaries from Norway and Qatar, including the H E Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs.
Minister Al Kaabi, in his brief address at the event, noted: “We have great partnership with the Norwegian companies in Qatar (YARA, Hydro, Equinor and KONGSBERG) and we would like to thank all the four companies for hosting us tonight. I look for excellent collaboration going forward. We have things that we can do together within the country and outside.”
Al Kaabi added: “I am sure that with the great teams that we have in these four companies in Qatar. The leadership in both countries (Qatar and Norway) is very supportive about this relationship and I am confident that we will do great things together.”
The Norwegian minister also noted that Qatar and Norway are very far apart and different countries in many ways, but there are a lot of similarities between the two, such as in terms of geography and demography. Qatar and Norway both are tiny countries with small population but both are wealth and energy-rich economies with very high level of per capita income and other developmental indicators.
“Relatively speaking both the countries has small population but highly developed and sophisticated economies. Both are energy-based and have well-established oil & gas and maritime industries. The healthcare sector and many other areas are also very advanced in both the countries. We are looking forward to expand our collaboration in these areas as well as new areas. However, the biggest areas for cooperation in future will still be industries such as aluminium, maritime, and oil & gas,” said Isaksen.
Asked about possibility of establishing a joint investment fund, the minister said: “We are always looking to find co-investment opportunities instead of buying each other’s products. For instance, The Kongsberg Group and Qatar’s Barzan Holdings signed a deal today (yesterday) prolonging their cooperation.”
