ISLAMABAD: Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Thursday arrived in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad for discussions on trade, investment and bilateral energy cooperation, the Pakistani foreign office said.
This is the first visit by a Norwegian foreign minister to Pakistan in a decade, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
The Norwegian foreign minister and his Pakistani counterpart will hold delegation-level talks covering the full spectrum of bilateral relations.
“The two sides will discuss avenues for further expanding bilateral cooperation, particularly in trade and investment, climate change, renewable energy, education and people-to-people contacts,” the Pakistani foreign office said.
“They will also exchange views on important regional and international developments.”
Norway follows the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) system and accords Pakistan GSP status, which means that Pakistani goods benefit from a 10-100 percent tariff reduction when imported into Norway, according to the Pakistani embassy in Oslo.
Norway is also a member of European Free Trade Association (EFTA) along with Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Pakistan and the EFTA states signed a declaration in 2012 to promote economic cooperation. Islamabad is presently working on a feasibility exercise for signing of a Free Trade Agreement with EFTA.
“The visit will provide an opportunity to further strengthen the longstanding and cordial relations between Pakistan and Norway and to explore new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation,” the Pakistani foreign office said.
