Qatar and Norway share a long history of a solid relationship that reflects remarkable progress in bilateral co-operation. This includes
multi-faceted aspects of political, economic, and trade co-operation, in addition to sharing knowledge and expertise in a multitude of fields.
The visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Norway is the first of its kind and underscores Qatar’s commitment to reinforcing its global partnerships and expanding the scope of co-operation with friendly nations. The visit is also a crucial step towards broadening Qatar’s political and economic relationships.
Norway is undoubtedly an attractive model whose economy relies on oil and gas and has evolved over the years into an economy with diverse incomes and robust investments in the industrial and tourism sectors. This evolution is underpinned by Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), the first global fund established in 1990, with financial assets worth about $1.6tn, as per World Bank global classifications.
Norway is renowned for its international role in sponsoring mediations, resolving a variety of international crises, and hosting political consultations; in fact, it is the same role played by Qatar. Additionally, the capital, Oslo, frequently forges agreements among countries that have territorial disputes or conflicts and does not hesitate to advocate for humanitarian issues and stand with nations and their just causes. The latest stance was Norway’s official recognition of the State of Palestine, alongside Ireland and Spain, on 28 May 2024, a decision welcomed by Qatar as a critical step forward to support the two-state solution and achieve peace and stability in the region.
Qatar shares a growing relationship with Norway, as demonstrated on January 17, 2024, when King Harald V of Norway received the credentials of Nadia bint Ahmad al-Sheebi as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Qatar (non-resident) to Norway. The ambassador conveyed His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s greetings to the Norwegian monarch.
In August 2024, HE Chief of Staff of the Qatar Armed Forces, Staff Lieutenant-General (Pilot) Salem bin Hamad bin Aqeel al-Nabit, visited Norway and held separate meetings in Oslo with State Secretary of Defence of Norway Anne Marie Aanerud and Norway’s Chief of Defence General Eirik Kristoffersen to discuss military co-operation between the two sides.
In addition, HE the Chief of Staff of the Qatar Armed Forces visited the Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace facility and met with the CEO of the facility Geir Haoy.
Regarding the economic aspect, Qatar Chamber (QC) hosted the Qatar-Norway Business Meeting on June 12, 2022. The meeting was co-chaired by QC’s First Vice-Chairman Mohamed bin Twar al-Kuwari and Manager of Innovation Norway in the Middle East and Head of the Norwegian delegation Epsen Teksum.
Al-Kuwari underlined that Qatar and Norway share rock-solid co-operation ties and investments in the two countries, which reached approximately QR195mn during 2021, emphasising the importance of collaborative work of private sectors in both countries to stimulate trade exchanges.
For his part, Epsen Teksum called on Qatari businessmen to explore investment opportunities available in Norway and invest in multiple sectors, such as energy, maritime industries, food security, and others. He highlighted that the Qatari-Norwegian trade ties have been ongoing for more than 60 years and that there are shared investments between the two countries in gas, oil, and defence sectors, as well as other fields.
The first round of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the two countries was held in November 2019, with the two nations signing a memorandum of understanding to establish political consultations between the two foreign ministries. The consultations were co-chaired by HE the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hammadi and Norway’s State Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Audun Halvorsen.
Minister of Trade and Industry of Norway Torbjorn Roe Isaksen visited Doha on November 13, 2019, with accompanying delegates from professional Norwegian energy firms to attend the golden jubilee celebration of Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) and the 50th anniversary of its co-operation with the Norwegian Yara International company.
Torbjorn Roe Isaksen said the investments of the Norwegian firms in Qatar reached up to $10bn, hoping that trade ties between the two sides would significantly evolve to elevate these investments. He noted the co-operation prospects between the two sides in an array of sectors, such as maritime technology and defence industries, especially since the Norwegian firms were as successful as Qafco and Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Company, predicting a meteoric rise in the Qatari-Norwegian partnerships in the future, particularly in maritime industries and energy sectors.
The visit featured the celebration of four major Norwegian companies, alongside Qafco, on the 50th anniversary of the burgeoning industrial relationship among them and Qatar. Approximately, 250 Qatari and international dignitaries attended the event, particularly Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus; HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and President and CEO of QatarEnergy Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi; Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Torbjorn Roe Isaksen; and Qafco Chief Executive Officer Abdulrahman M al-Suwaidi. Qafco represents the most important investment between the two countries, with 25% from the Norwegian Yara International and 75% from Industries Qatar, with Qafco running six integrated factories that produce Ammonia and Urea.
Additionally, it plays a pivotal role in the global fertiliser market and is one of the largest exporters of Urea, with an annual production capacity of 3.8mn metric tonnes of Ammonia and 5.6mn metric tonnes of Urea.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Yara International Svein Tore Holsether affirmed that half of the world’s population depends on food production fertilisers, with Qafco significantly contributing to enhancing global food security and exporting its products to all parts of the world.
He underscored the company’s commitment to working with Qafco to ensure the sustainable production of mineral fertilisers, highlighting that his company works to develop digital agriculture tools for precision agriculture, thus lending impetus to food production by Qatar.
For her part, CEO of Hydro Hilde Merete Aasheim said in the past 50 years Hydro had succeeded in engaging in the activities of numerous world-class industrial projects in Qatar and is the first industrial partner for Qatar. She added that Hydro primarily focuses on making aluminium as part of the solution for the most overwhelming challenge in this age, chiefly reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions when used in vehicles, transport, construction, packaging, and other applications, since aluminium can be repurposed without being recycled.
Within the framework of the same visit, then Minister of Commerce and Industry HE Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari held separate meetings in Doha with Crown Prince Haakon Magnus, and Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry Torbjorn Roe Isaksen.
On the sidelines of the visit, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) pointed out that the size of trade exchange between Qatar and Norway reached roughly QR160.1mn during 2018, equivalent to $43.86mn.
The two countries have so far signed an agreement on avoiding double taxation and preventing fiscal evasion with respect to income taxes. Qatar ratified this agreement with the Norwegian government in Oslo on January 10,2010.
