Norway

Brief Fact File

Capital	Oslo
Currency	Norwegian Krone (NOK)
Language(s)	Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Local time	GMT + 1 hour
Telephone code	47
Major cities	Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger

Economy
The Norwegian economy is a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The key areas are controled by the government, like petroleum sector. Norway is richly endowed with natural resources, like petroleum, fish, hydropower, forests, and minerals. It is highly dependent on the oil production and international oil prices. Oil and gas accounts for 1/3rd of exports. It is one of the leading fish exporter in the world. The electrical production and consumption are among the highest in the world. Manufacturing industry accounts to 10% of the GDP. Service sector is in full swing, especially tourism. Though it is not the member of EU, still it does not impose customs duties for most of the imports from the EU countries. The top three export and import countries are the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, Germany, Denmark respectively.

Major Exports:

• Petroleum And Petroleum Products
  
• Machinery And Equipment
  
• Oil and gas (3rd in the world)
  
• Metals
  
• Chemicals
  
• Ships
  
• Fish

Major Imports:

• Machinery And Equipment
  
• Chemicals
  
• Metals
  
• Foodstuffs

Business Practices

Business Dress

• Business attire is casual, yet conservative.
  
• Men should wear dark coloured conservative business suits.
  
• Women should wear elegant dresses or pantsuits.
  
• Jewellery and accessories should be to a minimum.
  
• Shoes should be well polished.

Communication Guidelines

• They do not need long-standing personal relationships in order to conduct business.They prefer to do business with those they trust.
  
• Relationships developes slowly and depends upon the other being professional and meeting all agreed upon deadlines.
  
• Giving a well-researched presentation indicates that you are serious about conducting business.
  
• The basic business style is relatively informal.
  
• They respect confident, self-assured businesspeople.
  
• They are excellent time managers who do not require face-to-face contact in order to conduct business.
  
• Maintaining eye contact while speaking is interpreted as sincerity.
  
• They are direct communicators.
  
• They are conservative and deliberate speakers who do not appreciate being rushed.
  
• They are not emotive speakers and their body language is subtle.

Business Hour
8.15 am to 3.30 pm - Banks (Monday to Friday and 6.00 pm of Thursdays)
9.00 am to 6.00/3.00 pm on Saturdays - Shops (most shops open until 8.00 pm on Thursdays)

Important Contacts

Associations / Ministries
Department of Trade and Industry
Postboks 8014 Dep, 0030 Oslo
Tel.: +(47)-(22)-240125
Fax: +(47)-(22)-249525
Website: http://odin.dep.no/nhd

Indian Embassy / Counsulate

Embassy of India
Niels Juels Gt 30
0244 Oslo
Norway
Tel.: +(47)-(24)-115910
Fax: +(47)-(24)-115912
         +(47)-(24)-115929 (Consular Section)
E-mail: cons.oslo@mea.gov.in
              consular@indemb.no
Website: http://www.indemb.no
Working Hours:
8.30 am to 1.00 pm & 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm (Monday to Friday)
9.00 am to 12.00 noon - Consular Services

Visiting this Country

Business Visa Rules for Norway

• A business visa has a maximum validity of 90 days (a Schengen visa).
  
• A visa issued for 90 days is not extendable. During a 6 month period the applicant is entitled to stay within the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days, after which there will be a quarantine for 3 months before another 90 days can be granted.
  
• Applicants are recommended to make the application for the business visa well in advance to avoid any delay in travel and unnecessary expense.
  
• The processing time is 3 to 4 weeks from submission of the application.
  
• When an application and all required documents have been received in good order by the Embassy, the processing and evaluation of the application starts. The processing will include the registration of the applicant's bio-data on the SIS database (the Schengen Information System). This registration process takes approximately 14 days, and can not be rushed by the Embassy. Applicant receives a letter from the Embassy concerning the decision, after 3-4 weeks by fax.

Public Holidays

Festival	Date	Detail
New Year's Day	January 1
Palm Sunday		The Sunday before Easter Sunday
Maundy Thursday		The Thursday before Easter Sunday
Good Friday		The Friday before Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday		The day after Easter Sunday
Easter Monday
Labour Day	May 1
Constitution Day	May 17	Celebration of the Constitution of 1814
Ascension Day		40 days after Easter
Pentecost		50 days after Easter
Whitmonday		51 days after Easter
Christmas Day	December 25	Informal celebrations on eve of December 24th (Julaften)
Boxing Day	December 26

Travel Tips

• Taxi drivers are not tipped in Norway. Waiters expect a tip of around 5% of the bill. Porters charge per piece of luggage. Hotel porters are usually tipped with NOK5-10 according to the number of pieces of luggage.
  
• Departure tax is nil.
  
• Without incurring customs duty, one can carry 400 cigarettes or 500g of tobacco products and 200 leaves of cigarette paper, 11 of spirits and 11 of wine or 21 of wine and 21 of beer. Along with this, 50g of perfume and 50cl of eau de cologne and other goods to the value of NOK3500. The passenger should be 18 years or above and in case of wine he/she should be 20 years or above in age.
  
• Make confirmation whether your health plan is valid in Norway.
  
• Make two photocopies of the passport, credit cards and other valuables. Leave one at home and pack other in your luggage, separate from the original.