On arrival at Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport, Prince Salman was received by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and other top Norwegian officials.

Støre hoped the royal visit would strengthen political, economic and cultural ties between the two countries.

“Saudi Arabia and Norway are active members of the international community and have been contributing to promote world peace and stability. We also coordinate to tackle major issues such as the Palestinian issue,” the Norwegian minister said.

Støre noted the two oil-producing countries’ efforts to stabilize world market. Welcoming Prince Salman to Norway, he said: “We have been looking forward to this visit for quite a long time and we are happy to see his royal highness amongst us.”

Prince Salman is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Prince Faisal bin Salman, chairman of Saudi Research & Marketing Group, Prince Muhammad bin Salman, special adviser, and Prince Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, mayor of Riyadh.

Abdul Rahman Al-Judie, Saudi ambassador to Norway, said the visit comes as part of Prince Salman's efforts to strengthen the Kingdom's foreign relations.

“The royal visit also reflects the desire of the two leaderships to bolster their relations in all areas,” the ambassador said.

During his five-day visit, Prince Salman is expected to meet with King Harald of Norway, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Støre.

Prince Salman's tour to the two European countries comes after his landmark visit to India last month. “Norwegian officials wanted to strengthen relations with Saudi Arabia and they hold the Kingdom in high esteem because of its international reputation,” Al-Judie said.

He commended Norway’s efforts to establish peace in the Middle East as it hosted the peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis in 1993.

Norwegian Ambassador to Riyadh Carl Wibye underscored the strong relations between his country and Saudi Arabia.

Wibye said Salman's talks in Oslo would also focus on expanding bilateral cooperation, especially in education.

“We hope Saudi Arabia would send more students to Norway, which offers education in English for foreign students,” he said.

The ambassador commended the interfaith dialogue initiative of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, saying it would contribute to world peace and stability.

“We believe that this is an important initiative in the backdrop of several conflicts taking place in different parts of the world as a result of religious differences. Dialogue is the best way to resolve conflicts.”

Wibye warned that the absence of dialogue would lead to the continuation of armed confrontations. “We hope the king's initiative would have a positive impact,” he added.

The ambassador stressed the need to expand trade relations between the two countries as two-way trade now stands at $200 million. He attributed the relatively weak bilateral trade to the geographical distance between the two countries.

Saudi Arabia and Norway established diplomatic relations in 1961. Five years later Norway opened its embassy in Jeddah, which was moved to the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh in 1984.