1. PROFILE
1.2 Government Profile
Official name : Kingdom of Norway
Form of State : Constitutional Monarchy
Electoral system: Democratic elections
National elections : There are general elections every four years for the 165 seats in the national assembly, the Storting.
Head of State : King Harald V (succeeded to the
throne in January 1991)
Head of Government : Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (Labour Party)
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Jonas Gahr Støre, male (Labour Party)
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
Bjarne Håkon Hanssen, male (Labour Party)
Minister of Justice
Knut Storberget, male (Labour Party)
Minister of Trade and Industry
Dag Terje Andersen, male (Labour Party)
Minister of Health and Care Services
Sylvia Kristin Brustad, female (Labour Party)
Minister of Children and Equality
Karita Bekkemellem, female (Labour Party)
Minister of Defence
Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, female (Labour Party)
Minister of Culture and Church Affairs
Trond Giske, male (Labour Party)
Minister of Fisheries and Costal Affairs
Helga Pedersen, female (Labour Party)
Minister of International Development
Erik Solheim, male (Socialist Left Party)
Minister of Finance
Kristin Halvorsen, female (Socialist Left Party)
Minister of Environment
Helen Oddveig Bjørnøy, female (Socialist Left Party)
Minister of Education and Research
Øystein Kare Djupedal, male (Socialst Left Party)
Minister of Government Administration and Reform
Heidi Grande Røys, female (Socialist Left party)
Minister of Food and Agriculture
Terje Riis-Johansen, male (Centre Party)
Minister of Petroleum and Energy
Odd Roger Enoksen, male (Centre Party)
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development
Åslaug Marie Haga, female (Centre Party)
Minister of Transport and Communications
Liv Signe Navarsete, female (Centre Party)
Ambassador I Coovadia
Ambassador O Thorsheim
1.2 General Profile
Capital : Oslo
Population : 4 611 000 (July 2006)
Lowest population density in Europe, after Iceland
Population growth rate: 0,38% (2006 est.)
Main Towns : Oslo 451 099
(approximate population) Bergen 208 809
Trondheim 134 496
Stavanger 95 437
Kristiansand 63 293
Languages : Norwegian (official), small Sami and Finnish-speaking
minorities
Literacy : 99%
Religion : Evangelical Lutheran 87,5% (state church), other
Protestant and Roman Catholic 3,8%, Muslim 1,8%, none 3,2%, unknown 3,7%
GDP : USD 246.9 billion (2005 estimate)
GDP per capita : USD 42 800
Area : 385 155 square kilometres
Climate : Temperate on west coast, colder inland. Average
temperatures range from -17 C to 26 C.
Natural
Resources : Petroleum(oil), copper, natural gas, pyrites, nickel, iron
ore, zinc, lead, fish, timber, hydropower
Weights
and Measures : Metric system
Currency : 100 ore = 1 Norwegian Krone
(plural: Kroner)
R1 = 0.9 NOK January 2007
2. POLITICAL SITUATION
2.1 Government Structure
Norway is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democratic rule. The present reigning monarch is King Harald V (born 21 February 1937), who succeeded his father, Olav V, in January 1991 as Norway's third monarch since Norwegian independence in 1905. Legislative power is vested in the bicameral Storting (Parliament), with 165 members elected for four years by universal adult suffrage, on the basis of proportional representation. The Storting divides itself into two chambers by choosing one-quarter of its members to form the Lagting (Upper House), the remainder forming the Odelsting (Lower House).
Executive power is nominally held by the King but is exercised by the State Council (Council of Ministers), led by the Prime Minister. The Council is appointed by the King in accordance with the will of the Storting. For electoral purposes, Norway is divided into 19 counties (fylker).
2.2 Recent Political Developments
Following elections on 12 September 2005, His Majesty King Harald V has formally accepted the resignation of the previous centre-right coalition government, which was led by Prime Minister Bondevik.
On 17 October 2005 the King appointed Jens Stoltenberg’s new coalition government to Office. The new government represents the Labour Party, the Socialist Left and the Centre Party.
Mr. Jens Stoltenberg’s rich political career began as leader of the Norwegian Labour Party’s youth league. This followed by his appointment as State Secretary and Minister of Environment. He was also Minister of Finance before becoming Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001.
His first tenure as Prime Minister was marked by controversy within the Labour Party as he was responsible for reforms and modernisation of the welfare state that included partly privatising several key state-owned services and corporations. In the parliamentary elections of 2001 the Labour Party suffered one of its worst results ever.
However, the 2005 elections saw a vast improvement for the Labour Party, and together with other “red-green” parties, gained a majority in Parliament. This paved the way for a historic first in Norway, with the Labour Party joining in a coalition government to form the Red-Green Coalition.
Mr. Stoltenberg, who has been described as the Party’s “golden boy” and at times as “Norway’s Tony Blair” was raised in a very political environment. His father is one of the most prominent politicians in Norway and a former Foreign Minister and his mother was a State Secretary.
Prime Minister Stoltenberg’s centre-left government has continued with Norway’s line on foreign policy, which emphasises support of the African Agenda.
3. ECONOMIC SITUATION
Norway has a mixed economy involving a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector (through large-scale state enterprises) and subsidises agriculture, fishing and areas with sparse resources. Norway also maintains an extensive welfare system that helps propel public sector expenditures to slightly more than 50% of the GDP and results in one of the highest average tax burdens in the world. A small country with a high dependence on international trade, Norway is basically an exporter of raw materials and semi-processed goods, with an abundance of small- and medium-sized firms, and is ranked among the major shipping nations.
The country is richly endowed with natural resources -petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil sector to keep its economy afloat. With oil and gas accounting for one-third of exports, only Saudi Arabia and Russia export more oil than Norway. Although Norwegian oil production peaked in 2000, natural gas production is still rising. Norwegians realize that once their gas production peaks they will eventually face declining oil and gas revenues; accordingly, Norway has been saving its oil-and-gas-boosted budget surpluses in a Government Petroleum Fund, which is invested abroad and now is valued at more than $250 billion. After lackluster growth of 1% in 2002 and 0.5% in 2003, GDP growth picked up to 3.3% in 2004 and to 3.7% in 2005.
Although one of the government's main priorities is to reduce this dependency, this situation is not likely to improve for years to come. The government also hopes to reduce unemployment and strengthen and diversify the economy through tax reform and a series of expansionary budgets.
To act as a hedge against its finite oil reserves - estimated to last for another 30 years only - Norway has established a Petroleum Fund. This fund is based on a percentage of the Government's surplus being re-invested internationally. The accumulation of capital will enable the government to meet the strong increase in pension liabilities expected after 2010.
Norway opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in November 1994; nonetheless, it contributes sizably to the EU budget. The government has moved ahead with privatization.
4. RELATIONS WITH SOUTH AFRICA
4.1 Political Relations
Norway maintains excellent relations with South Africa. It was a staunch supporter of the liberation movements during the struggle for democracy in South Africa. The gist of the Norwegian policy towards South Africa during the apartheid years was generally to effect fundamental change through boycotts and withdrawal of business and trade relations. Mr Mandela visited Norway three times before becoming president, including the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He also paid a State Visit to Norway in March 1999. These visits have been particularly important, taking into account the importance of Norway in the struggle against apartheid.
South Africa opened a Consulate General in Oslo in September 1988 while Norway already had a Consulate General in Cape Town. On 1 January 1992, diplomatic relations were upgraded to ambassadorial level and Norway opened an Embassy in South Africa.
In February 1996 Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland paid an official visit to South Africa and in November 1996 Deputy President Mbeki visited Norway. A State Visit to South Africa by King Harald V and Queen Sonya took place during February 1998. During August 2001 Crown Prince Haakon visited South Africa to raise funds to combat HIV/AIDS.
During 2005 Queen Sonja visited South Africa to launch Norway’s programme of a yearlong calendar of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the peaceful dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden.
Mr Nelson Mandela visited the Norwegian town of Tromso to attend the 46664 ARCTIC concert on 11 June 2005.
During the visit by Prime Minister Brundtland in February 1996 Foreign Ministers Godal and Nzo signed a "Memorandum of Understanding Relating to Joint Consultation and Decision Making in Matters of Foreign Policy". Further addendums were made in 1999 and 2004.
In terms of this MOU annual meetings are to be scheduled between the two Foreign Ministers and this has taken place virtually every year. The MOU also makes provision for regular meetings on senior Foreign Ministry officials’ level and stipulates between the Director-General/Secretary-General. The meetings took place infrequently and usually were one-on-one meetings. The last meeting took place on 13 April 2002 the Norwegian State Secretary, Mr Lindstrom and the Acting Director-General, Mr Minty.
It was decided to bring the level of the meetings down to Deputy Director-General level and the next meeting will take place on 23-24 January 2007.
Bondevik visit
The former Prime Minister of Norway, Mr Kjell Bondevik, paid an official visit to South Africa from 10 to 14 February 2000. His delegation consisted of over 70 persons including the Minister for International Development and Human Rights, Ms Hilda Frafjord-Johnson, and the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Harriet Berg, senior government officials, a large business delegation and media representatives.
During the South African – Nordic Summit in Skagen, Denmark, on 8 June 2000 a successful bilateral meeting took place between President Thabo Mbeki and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Prime Minister Stoltenberg expressed Norway’s support for the President’s global initiative for Africa. He also said that Norway would continue its development cooperation with South Africa.
Prime Minister Bondevik, as the 2002 Chair of the Nordic Council, in December 2001 invited President Mbeki to Norway to attend a second South African – Nordic Summit in Molde on 12 May 2002 followed by an official visit to Oslo on 13 May 2002. The Summit and the visit were deemed to be great successes and led to a greater understanding on NEPAD and the South African position on Zimbabwe.
4.2 Economic Relations
Trade between South Africa and Norway
Fundamental to trade relations between South Africa and Norway is the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for the import of goods from developing countries, which was extended by Norway to South Africa on 6 May 1994.
South African Exports
1997 R206 949 000
1998 R214 886 000
1999 R161 334 000
2000 R176 699 000
2001 R207 794 000
2002 R361 859 000
2003 R313 948 000
2004 R257 768 000
2005 R298 828 000
2006 (to October) R286 386 000
South African Imports
1997 R129 406 000
1998 R147 510 000
1999 R214 600 000
2000 R212 997 000
2001 R249 540 000
2002 R342 786 000
2003 R363 832 000
2004 R345 610 000
2005 R448 380 000
2006 (to October) R505 786 000
South African Trade Balance
1997 +R77 542 000
1998 +R67 376 000
1999 -R53 266 000
2000 -R36 298 000
2001 -R41 746 000
2002 +R19 073 000
2003 -R49 884 000
2004 -R87 842 000
2005 +R149 552 000
2006 (to October) +R219 400 000
Norwegian Investments
An increasing number of companies are planning to expand their operations through increased investments and technology. South Africa is seen as a growth point into the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. Norwegian companies have shown an interest in joint ventures, expansion of existing operations, buying into local companies, as well as the exploration of small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs). Through the matchmaking programme, the Norwegians are willing to assist South African SMMEs that have viable business plans in joint venture operations.
The significant Norwegian investment interest is illustrated by the presence of a Norwegian investors' delegation at the West Coast Development Investors Conference (Spatial Development Initiative) at Saldanha Bay. The Norwegian group was the only country-specific delegation at the conference. This participation has had very positive results with respect to bilateral investment.
Tourism
The vast potential for tourists from Norway must be exploited further. An inhibiting factor is that SAA cancelled plans for direct flights to Copenhagen which would have further stimulated tourism to South Africa, as the Nordic region is already one of the fastest growing tourist markets for South Africa.
4.3 Development Cooperation
Between 1977 and 1994 Norway channelled funds totalling R800 million to South Africa in general aid and through UN agencies. In 1992, Norway allocated R60 million for the benefit of the victims of apartheid. In October 1993 NOK 100 million (R45,5 million) was allocated to South Africa as development aid for 1994. The 1994 allocation for humanitarian aid and human rights in South Africa was maintained at NOK 80 million (R36 million).
Norway then undertook to supply South Africa with transitional development cooperation for five years period 1995 - 1999. Norway's development cooperation contribution to South Africa until the end of 1999 was R60 million per year, totalling R300 million. The total amount disbursed during the period 2000 – 2004 is R 412 574 000.
The agreed guidelines for a new period of development cooperation for 2005-2009 focus on cooperation in areas where collaboration could result in long term, self-sustaining relationships; consolidation of democratic transition; and strengthening regional integration and collaboration. The focus includes areas of higher education and research; environment and natural resources; energy; democracy, peace, security and human rights. Norway is committed to providing NOK 250 million for the bilateral cooperation over the five-year period.
4.4 Cooperation in the multilateral field
South Africa and Norway share a common approach in many areas of foreign policy, which forms a sound basis for cooperation. For example, South Africa and Norway regard the promotion of human rights as central to their respective foreign policies.
- South Africa and Norway were in the core group of countries that ensured a successful conclusion to the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel land mines;
- Support for SADC is an important part of Norway's Africa policy. In addition to bilateral development assistance to Southern African countries, Norway provides funding directly to SADC. It seems that Norway wishes to see more results and proof of better use of funds by SADC, before committing itself to further financial support. Norway believes that South Africa has a vision for revitalising SADC, and therefore sees it as a crucial partner in the region. During the April 2000 Cartagena meeting between Minister Dlamini Zuma and Minister Jagland, he again confirmed that Africa, in particular the SADC region, remains a priority for Norway.
- The former Norwegian Foreign Minister expressed interest in supporting peacekeeping projects in Southern Africa. Norway is involved in the project "Training for Peace", where the Norwegian Institute for Foreign Policy has entered into cooperation with two South African research institutions to supply information and provide training in peacekeeping according to the Nordic model. There are plans for developing cooperation between Norway and South Africa on a "human rights crisis alert".
- Due to South Africa's perceived leadership role in NAM and the G77 and on debate about North-South issues, Norway sees South Africa as an important partner in bridging the North-South divide. This is particularly true in the area of human rights, which has traditionally been one of tension between North and South.