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News from the Nordic Countries
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Updated 3/9/10
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Phillip Morris takes Norway to court
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The world's larges tobacco company Phillip Morris International (PMI) is taking the Norwegian state to court. PMI wants the Norwegian ban on displaying tobacco products in stores lifted, Dagens Næringsliv reports.
- There is no scientific evidence that the ban has any health effect, says PMI communication director Anne Edwards to the newspaper.
She points to Iceland, which introduced the ban against the display of tobacco in stores in 2001.
According to Edwards, the ban against the display of tobacco has not reduced the number of smokers in Iceland.
PMI controls 42 per cent of the Norwegian tobacco market.
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Crown Prince and Crown Princess visit Malaysia
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Norway's Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are on an official visit to Malaysia this week. They are accompanied by the Minister for Industry Trond Giske and a delegation from Norwegian industry.
On Monday it was 42 years since diplomatic relations were established between the two nations.
The Norwegian Royals were welcomed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Sri Rosmah Mansor.
They were also received in audience by the Malaysian King and Queen, Pertuan Agong og Raja Permaisuri Agong.
Speaking at an official banquet at the Prime Minister's residence, Crown Prine Haakon said iit was his hope that this visit will contribute in strengthening the relations between Malaysia and Norway.
The Crown Prince said that from a geographical perspective, Malaysia and Norway should not have much in common. The Arctic Circle cuts through Norway while Malaysia is only 3 degrees north of the Equator.
- But we both have long coastlines, he went on. Fisheries and aquaculture are therefore important for both countries. Both Malaysia and Norway have vast forest areas - hence a common interest in forestry issues. Our countries are in the fortunate position of having great natural resources such as oil and gas. This is an area where there are strong business ties between Malaysia and Norway.
- I could go on, but I think the main message is clear: Tropical Malaysia and arctic Norway have more in common than we should think at first glance. These areas should be utilized and we should explore the possibilities for further cooperation between our two countries. The large business delegation accompanying us on this official visit proves the great Norwegian interest for Malaysia, the Crown Prince said.
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OECD economic survey of Norway
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has presented its economic survey of Norway for 2010, in which a further tightening of the Norwegian economy is recommended. (Photo: Finance Minister Sigbjorn Johnsen)
Assuming that the economic recovery and growth in the economy is continuing, it is the opnion of the OECD that time has come for a reduction in the use of public money:
- The Norwegian economy has been particularly resilient during the financial crisis with a relatively shallow recession and moderate increase in unemployment. As Norway moves into what is projected to be a strong recovery, the authorities need to plan how to unwind the extraordinary measures that were taken to confront the crisis. Interest rates have already been raised, the special liquidity measures have been progressively withdrawn and monetary policy will need to tighten further over the next two years. The appropriate pace of tightening will primarily depend on developments of the Norwegian economy and the outlook for inflation. Policymakers should also continue to pay attention to developments in the property market, which are fuelled by low interest rates, and trends in the foreign-exchange market, which could react to widening interest-rate differentials. An early consolidation of fiscal policy would reduce the need for monetary tightening and the related risk of exchange-rate appreciation, the report states.
The OECD report states that although its estimates are surrounded with uncertainty and rely on a number of stylized assumptions, taken at face value they imply that major policy changes are required, so as to avoid an undesirable increase in the tax pressure.
- Completing the pension reform and reforming the disability and sickness leave schemes, which are both crucial for achieving strong labour participation in the future, would make important contributions. In addition, this chapter argues that there is a large unexploited potential for providing effective public services at lower costs, notably in the areas of municipal services, such as education, health but also in tax expenditures, according tot he OECD.
Finance Minister Sigbjorn Johnsen says that OECD's assessment of the Norwegian economy serves to stimulate the debate on important economic policy isues:
- As noted by OECD, the Norwegian economy has been relatively mildly affected by the financial crisis and the contraction in world economic activity, and unemployment is low in an international perspective. Fiscal and monetary stimuli, as well as the measures taken towards the financial sector, have contributed to the favourable development. OECD emphasises that exit strategies are now a highly relevant issue for us. In fact, several of the measures to stabilize the financial markets have been withdrawn, and Norges Bank has increased the interest rate. The Government remains fully committed to bringing fiscal policy back to the 4-per cent path, in line with our fiscal policy framework", says finance minister Sigbjorn Johnsen.
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Energy: Plans ready for "Supergrid"
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Companies from Norway and nine EU member nations have presented plans for an offshore grid which will distribute electricity generated by Norwegian wind farms to Europe, the Financial Times reports.
The plans for this "Supergrid" call for generating large amounts of wind power generated electricity in the North Sea, according to the newspaper.
Norwegian Statkraft and its partners German Siemens and Hochtief, together with French Areva will be operating under the umbrella of "Friends of the Supergrid" (FOGS), NRK reports, quoting Financial Times.
In December last year, nine EU Member States, including the UK and Germany, signed a political declaration for the "North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative". Last month Norway signed the declaration, whose aim is to develop policy to advance offshore interconnection in Europe.
The concept of the Supergrid was first launched a decade ago and it is defined as "an electricity transmission system, mainly based on direct current, designed to facilitate large-scale sustainable power generation in remote areas for transmission to centres of consumption, one of whose fundamental attributes will be the enhancement of the market in electricity".
FOSG will be run by an Executive and directed by the Board of members. Membership will be kept to a maximum of 20 companies and aims to have both an industrial and geographic cross-section, with its base in Brussels.
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