Norway

Norway is located in Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden.

Norway is a small country and is heavily dependent on international trade and its oil sector, being the second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. The main growth in the economy is based on domestic small- and medium-sized firms operating in the food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, textiles and fishing sectors.

Investment Promotion Agency:

Norway Trade Council

tel: +46 (0) 13 200 730

fax: +46 (0) 13 31 35 34

Oslo

Oslo is the capital of Norway in the North of Europe. Over a quarter of Norway's population is located in the Oslo region, which acts as the gateway to other Nordic countries and the Northwest of Russia.

Oslo has become the center for high-tech activity in Norway and demonstrates expertise in the fields of shipping, information technology, telecommunications and multimedia, offshore and engineering activities and biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

In the electronics and information technology sector there are around 1,500 new software companies which have been set up in the past ten years in Oslo. Some of these companies can be found on Campus Kjeller - the largest technology park in Southern Norway, 20 kilometres northeast of Oslo. The institutions at Kjeller cover research, development, higher education and consultancy in a wide range of technologies: telematics, industrial mathematics, defence technology, energy technology, radiopharmaceuticals, materials technology, petroleum technology, and space technology.

International companies, such as Shell and Phillips, have their Norwegian headquarters in the Oslo region, and two of Norway's leading petroleum companies, Hydro and Saga, have also chosen the region as the base for their headquarters, corporate offices and R&D laboratories.

There are a wide range of research institutions in Oslo, most of which are based on the Oslo Science Park. The University of Oslo, a recently developed national hospital and 12 other institutions engaged in research and higher education are located on the Park

Stavanger

Stavanger is a Norweigan coastal town which is dependent on its shipbuilding and oil industries.

Trondheim

Trondheim is located in Norway, close to the international airport at Værnes. There are a number of defined sectors which are experiencing rapid growth in the region including financial services, media and research.

The media sector is made up of two national radio channels, NRK's television production for central Norway and Adresseavisen, the biggest media group outside Oslo.

A number of corporations have concentrated their research activities in the area, including Kværner, Alcatel, Telenor, Stento and Atmel and others have development centers in the city, such as Siemens electro technology, Autronica fire detection systems and Oceanor Micro Design.

The University of Trondheim is Norway's second largest university with a staff of 2,650 and more than 18,000 students and the College of Sør-Trøndelag (HiST), with a staff of 500, offers 5,000 students training in many fields, including Engineering and Food Science, Economics and Administration. Trondheim's university, colleges and Scandinavia's largest independent research institute, the SINTEF Group, all contribute to making Trondheim the technology capital of Norway.