As many as 13 agreements were signed between Indian and Norwegian entities on the second and concluding day of President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to this Scandinavian nation.
The agreements, which range from a statement of intent between the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and setting up a state-of-the-art fish farming unit outside Delhi, also had IIT-Kanpur, Hyderabad University and several other educational institutions reaching accord with their Norwegian counterparts.
The President, in his address to a joint business gathering, announced that Norwegian tourists would soon be given the visa-on-arrival facility, even as Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Oslo would open a new consulate in Mumbai.
As Mr. Mukherjee suggested that Norway’s $900-billion pension fund would increase its exposure to India, given the new Narendra Modi government’s intent to create an enabling business climate, Ms. Solberg said pension fund decisions were made independently of the government.
“Norway’s sovereign wealth [pension] fund decisions are made on the perception of the business environment,” she stressed. “They will invest where they feel they should.”
The President hoped that there would be an “early conclusion” to ongoing talks for a free trade and investment agreement between India and the four-nation European Free Trade Association, of which Norway is a key member. Referring to the Modi government’s pitch to “Make in India,” Mr. Mukherjee said, “the Indian government is committed to a business-friendly environment — impediment-free, predictable, facilitatory and transparent.”
At a separate press briefing, Ms. Solberg said the Norwegian government did not direct private investment but played the role of a “service provider” to business ventures.
