| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
Country Commercial Guides
|
CHAPTER X: APPENDICES A-D
------------------
Appendix A: Country Data
------------------- Population: the total population of Norway was about 4.50 million in mid-1998, with some 30 percent living in rural districts and 70 percent in densely populated areas.
- Population growth: the 1998 population growth rate was approximately 0.5 percent, or about the same as the 1988-98 average.
- Religions: about 90 percent of the population belong to the Evangelical Lutheran church, which is the State Church of Norway. Registered religious communities outside the Church of Norway have a total membership of over 200,000.
- Government system: the Kingdom of Norway is a constitutional hereditary monarchy, with division of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. The executive power is exercised by the king in a council of state comprised of the king, the Prime Minister and other government ministers. Legislative powers are vested in the parliament (Storting), which has 165 members elected through general elections based on proportional representation within geographical areas. Parliamentarians serve a four-year term and the Parliament cannot be dissolved during that period. The Parliament is elected as one chamber but 39 members are selected to constitute the "lagting," while the remaining members constitute the "odelsting." All bills of law are debated, first by the "odelsting" and then by the "lagting." Thereafter, they are sent to the king for Royal Assent in Council. All other decisions are made by the united Parliament. The country is divided into 19 counties, which in turn are divided into a large number of municipalities, the latter granted local self-government.
- Languages: the Norwegian language is closely related to the other Scandinavian languages, and to a lesser degree to English, Dutch and German. Most Norwegians have a good command of English. There are two official languages, "bokmal" and "nynorsk," with equal status in schools and official use. The Norwegian alphabet contains 29 letters with three letters not found in the English alphabet.
- Work week: the normal Norwegian work week is 37.5 hours. The Norwegian workers' protection act stipulates the maximum working hours: 9 hours per day; 40 hours per week.
------------------
Appendix B: Domestic Economy
------------------
Category 1997 1998 1999 -------- ---- ---- ----- Total GDP(USD mill) 153,380 146,636 150,915 Real GDP growthpct) 3.4 2.1 1.4 GDP per capita (USD) 34,237 32,585 33,315 Gov. Spending/GDP (pct) 37.8 40.1 39.9 Price inflation (pct) 2.6 2.3 2.3 Surv. Unempl. Rate(pct) 4.1 3.2 3.5 For. Exch. Res. (USD mill) 24,136 18,814 18,900 Avg. Exch. Rate (NOK/USD) 7.1 7.6 7.7 Net for. Debt(a) (USD mill) (11,268) (12,278) (12,400) Debt-serv. Ratio(b) (pct) 22.0 21.8 21.0 U.s. Econ./mil. Asst. Nil nil nilNote: (a) Foreign liabilities less foreign assets. (b) Gross debt service (on foreign liabilities). Sources: Norway central bureau of statistics; Ministry of finance; embassy projections
------------------
Appendix C: Trade
------------------
Category 1997 1998 1999 -------- ---- ---- ---- - tot. Norw. Exp. (USD mill) 47,491 40,623 42,105 - tot. Norw. Imp. (USD mill) 35,313 38,634 38,370 - exports to u.s. (USD mill)(a) 3,735 2,874 2,900 - imports fm u.s. (USD mill)(a) 1,720 1,709 1,700Note: (a) USDOC Statistics.----------------------------------
Appendix D: Investment Statistics
----------------------------------The following data is the latest available as of June 1999 from the Norwegian central bank. Figures on investment position refer to book-value. These figures are limited to companies in which a single foreign investor holds 10 percent or more of the equity capital and do not include foreign ownership interests via third party investment. Flow investment statistics is based on market value. FDI stands for foreign direct investment.
Note also that the NOK/USD exchange rates were as follows for the period in review:
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- End-period 7.42 6.86 6.35 6.47 7.30 Period-average 7.09 7.06 6.34 6.46 7.08
Table I: FDI position in Norway by country (NOK bill) ---------------------------------------------------- ------------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Country/area 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 ------------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Total FDI 102.4 113.7 123.3 139.1 151.5 --------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Of which from: U.S. 24.1 28.0 30.8 43.7 42.6 Sweden 17.9 15.8 20.7 20.3 23.2 France 8.1 8.0 8.1 11.2 10.3 Netherlands 6.6 5.1 10.3 9.2 18.6 Switzerland 11.1 10.8 10.7 6.3 6.7 U.K. 5.5 14.6 8.2 10.8 13.4 Germany 3.8 4.1 4.6 4.8 4.8 Denmark 4.2 5.5 6.4 6.5 7.1 Finland 2.4 2.4 2.6 4.7 4.6 Japan 4.9 4.8 4.8 4.7 4.0 All eu 50.0 58.6 67.5 74.4 89.1 ----------------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- FDI/GDP (percent) 12.4 13.1 13.3 13.7 13.9 ---------------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Table II: FDI Pos. In Norway by industry (NOK bill) -------------------------------------------------- ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Sector 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Total FDI 102.4 113.7 123.3 139.1 151.1 --------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Of which in: Petroleum/mining 34.8 46.1 48.9 52.1 52.7 Manufacturing 12.5 12.9 13.7 14.7 18.4 Bldg./construction 2.9 3.0 3.3 12.1 14.5 Dom. Trade/hotels 24.2 22.5 25.6 26.1 28.0 Transp./commun. 2.9 1.8 2.0 3.2 5.3 Financial, business Services/property 23.0 25.3 27.9 28.2 28.7 Other industry 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.7 3.9 Table III: Norw. Inv. Pos. Abroad by country (NOK bill) -------------------------------------------------- ------------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Country/area 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 ------------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Total inv. Abroad 81.7 94.8 119.9 142.3 163.9 ----------------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Of which in: U.S. 12.5 13.7 16.7 20.2 23.4 Sweden 11.0 14.6 15.1 19.7 23.8 Denmark 12.8 14.8 26.7 29.7 27.9 UK 8.2 11.2 10.7 12.0 19.0 Netherlands 8.1 8.5 8.4 12.0 14.3 Germany 7.9 7.8 8.7 7.8 6.8 All EU 60.5 69.4 89.3 105.3 124.0 ------------------- --- ---- ---- ---- ---- Total/GDP (pct) 10.4 11.5 13.8 15.3 16.1 ------------------- --- ---- ---- ---- ---- Table IV: Norw. Inv. Pos. Abroad by industry (NOK bill) --------------------------------------------------- ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- sector 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 ------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Total FDI 81.7 94.8 119.9 142.3 163.9 --------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Of which in: Petroleum/mining 11.2 17.0 27.0 29.4 35.7 Manufacturing 49.3 54.9 63.3 75.6 84.2 Dom. Trade/hotels 5.5 4.2 8.0 9.8 11.8 Transp./commun. 6.0 7.5 8.3 8.4 9.8 Financial, business services/property 7.9 9.2 11.7 17.3 20.1 Other industry 1.8 2.0 1.6 1.8 2.3 Table V: net FDI flows to Norway (NOK bill) -------------------------------------------- -------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Category 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 -------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Total 15.1 9.3 13.7 19.5 22.7 ----- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Of which from: U.S. 3.5 0.1 11.6 0.1 (2.5) Sweden (0.5) 4.3 2.5 0.2 1.7 EU (incl. Sweden) 11.2 5.9 6.5 21.8 26.3 --------------- --- --- --- --- --- Tot./GDP (pct.) 1.7 1.0 1.3 1.8 2.1 --------------- --- --- --- --- --- Table VI: Norw. Net FDI flows abroad (NOK mill) ------------------------------------------------ ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Category 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 -------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Total 11.8 14.9 31.7 30.1 13.7 ----- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Of which to: U.S. 4.7 0.9 0.3 9.2 4.5 Sweden 0.8 6.2 8.1 5.9 2.5 EU (incl.Sweden) 3.6 12.4 28.2 14.7 5.5 --------------- --- --- --- --- --- Tot./gdp (pct.) 1.4 1.6 3.1 2.8 1.2 --------------- --- --- --- --- --------------------------
Major Foreign Investors -----------------------According to Norwegian law, investment statistics collected by the Norwegian central bureau of statistics cannot be released on a company-to-company or project-to-project basis.
In 1997, foreign and Norwegian oil companies invested about USD nine billion (measured at market value) in the Norwegian offshore petroleum sector. The major U.S. Investors offshore were: Amerada Hess Corp., Amoco Norway, Conoco Petroleum Norge, Esso Norge, Mobil Norge, and Phillips Petroleum Corporation Norway. Other foreign oil companies were Norske Shell, BP Petroleum, Deminex Norge, Elf Petroleum Norge, Norsk Agip, and Total Norge.
On the Norwegian mainland, U.S. Investors/suppliers include: Kraft General Foods, Abbot Norge, Amdahl Norge, American Express, Apple Computer, Avis Bilutleie, Black & Decker, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Chemical Bank Norge, Citibank, Coca-Cola Norge, Colgate-Palmolive Norge, DHL International, United Airlines, Dow Chemical Norway, Ernst & Young, General Electric, General Motors, Gillette Norge, Goodyear Norge, Hertz Bilutleie, IBM, Ingersoll-Rand, Kellogg Norge, Manpower, Motorola Norge, NCR norge, Pepsi cola Norge, Price Waterhouse, Tandy Grid, Texas Instruments Norge, Vickers systems and Wrigley and Xerox corporation.
In all, over 200 American firms have established branch offices or subsidiaries in Norway.
---------------
Note on sources
---------------Information in this report was primarily obtained from various sources within the Ministries of Finance, Industry, Labor, and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Norwegian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Bank of Norway. The Price Waterhouse guide "doing business in Norway" and KMPG's "Investment in Norway" were useful for background information.
|
[end of document] Note* International Copyright, United States Government, 1998 (or other year of first publication). All rights under foreign copyright laws are reserved. All portions of this publication are protected against any type or form of reproduction, communications to the public and the preparation of adaptations, arrangement and alterations outside the United States. U. S. copyright is not asserted under the U.S. Copyright Law, Title 17, United States Code.
|
