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The Ambassador
of Norway in Pakistan, H.E Robert Kvile was born in 1958.
After getting his Ph.D in Slavic Linguistics from the
University of Oslo in 1987, he joined the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. Besides the different responsibilities
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he served as diplomat in
Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Russia and in January 2009 he came
to Pakistan as an Ambassador of Norway. An active
Ambassador with long experience, he has developed strong
relationships through socializing with the people of
Pakistan. One thing I would like to mention here, Robert
Kvile has studied the Holy Quran in detail and believes that
Islam, is a religion of peace. Just like him, we all need to
understand each other’s religion and develop respect for
it. A well-wisher of Pakistan, Robert gave Solidarity
International an exclusive interview, the excerpts of which
are given below:
Nasir Mahmood
Kharal - Among all the European countries, what is the
importance of Norway in relation with its social, political
and geographical situation?
Robert Kvile -
Norway has a great importance among the European countries
in many different ways. Geographically, it is placed in the
extreme northern part of Europe, with its borders meeting
with Sweden, Finland and Russia. Like most of the countries
in Europe, Norway has a very strong and stable parliamentary
democratic system of government. One thing that signifies
Norway from other European countries is its very strong
economy. In my opinion, this is mainly because of two
reasons, first being the fact that Norway is an energy
producing country and has huge reserves of gas and oil. The
latter is very obvious with Norway being the fifth largest
exporter of Oil and the third largest exporter of gas. The
Great Britain, France and Germany are among the many
countries which are currently using the gas and petroleum
imported from Norway. The export of petroleum plays the
'backbone' role in the total exports of Norway. The second
largest industry in the Norwegian economy is the fishing
industry, sea-food is exported to Europe, North America,
Japan and in so many other countries. Norway is currently
the second largest exporter of Sea Food.
NMK - How do you
see the relationship between Pakistan and Norway?
RK - Although
Pakistan is on a very distant place geographically, far away
from Norway, still a very strong political, economic and
trade relationship exists between the two for a long period
of time. I think communication between people decreases the
geographical distance. The Pakistani community living in
Norway has done a lot to improvement better relationship
between Norway and Pakistan on social grounds and have been
pretty much successful.
NMK - What would
you like to say about the Pakistani people in Norway and
their role in the society?
RK - Pakistani
People started entering Norway in 1969 and in 1971 many
Pakistani people came to Norway. At that time, most of the
people who came belonged to Kharian or areas close by.
Later on, many people also came from Lahore. One thing that
differentiates the people coming from Pakistan with the
people coming from other countries is that, the people
coming from other countries usually came by the fear of
prosecution while the Pakistani people came for work. They
played an important role in the development of Norway. The
have people living in Norway are now Norwegian nationals and
have become a part of culture of Norway. The
second-generation Pakistani Norwegians are now also playing
active role in politics, and I salute them for that. These
people are living in their social lives to the fullest. Some
of these people are role models, not just for us but for the
Pakistani people as well. They work not only in their own
industry or politics but also work for the welfare of the
people. These people have achieved success in trade,
politics, education and all other fields of life. Ten
percent of the medical students in Norway are Pakistani
Norwegians. These people have played a very tremendous role
in creating peace and harmony in religious matters, respect,
tolerance and humanity as well.
NMK - Norway has
achieved great success in the agriculture, dairy farming and
live stock industries. How can Pakistan benefit from it?
RK - Yes. On the
basis of science and technology, Norway has achieved success
in these areas but you are well aware of the fact that
Norway has a small agriculture market. In these areas, the
work being done is limited because of the weather. The
weather of Norway is very cold and the Pakistani weather is
its opposite. That is why I think Pakistan may not be able
to benefit a lot as the agriculture of Norway totally
depends on the weather. Pakistan might be able to benefit
from China, which is also its neighbor.
NMK - Telenor
has become a major player in the telecommunications industry
today. Do you think any Norwegian companies are looking
forward to investing in the Pakistani market in the coming
future?
RK - I wish more
companies from Norway should come to Pakistan and invest
more over here. Telenor is the only company from Europe,
which is working on such a large scale and has invested such
a huge amount for business in Pakistan. Telenor has invested
over 2 billion dollars and has achieved a huge success in
the market. Today over 21 million people are using the
Telenor network. I am glad that Telenor has been successful
because the Norwegian Government has been its major
shareholder. Some other Norwegian companies besides Telenor
have also been working in the Pakistani telecom and energy
sectors. I would like to talk over here about a company
formed in Norway during 1928 which entered the Pakistani
market in 1990. This company was a manufacturer of paints,
in the start they made their factory in Dubai but later on
in 2005, they shifted their factory to Lahore here Pakistan.
I believe that
the Pakistani market is huge. Fruitful investment can be
made over here in various industries. Pakistan is a
developing country and it needs more investments and
successful businesses to develop itself, but unfortunately,
due to the current unstable situation in Pakistan, the pace
of investments pouring into the country has slowed down.
Supposedly, now if I go to Norwegian companies and ask them
to invest in Pakistan, they might hesitate as some areas of
Pakistan are now facing peace problems because of
extremists. Although I even say that Pakistan is a very big
country, but just because of some areas and some people, the
whole country is suffering. I hope that things will get
right soon and economy of Pakistan will boom once again and
the country can work on its way to success.
NMK - Pakistan
has suffered a lot due to the war against terror. How do you
see Pakistan's efforts against the terrorism in the country?
RK - Pakistan's
role in the war against terrorism is very important and
visible. The Pakistani army has given a lot of sacrifices to
become successful in this war. Many arrests have been made
in the Swat operation and the results showed that to quite
an extent, the Pakistani army has been successful. I hope
that over the coming days, the Pakistan will be able
completely to win the war against terrorism that is going on
in the country.
We should look
at the mistakes and reasons that led to such situations
which exist in the country today. In my opinion, poverty,
illiteracy, unemployment and injustice are the main factors.
These problems need to be understood and considered
globally. Pakistan is doing all that, its time other
countries pay attention to these issues.
NMK - The
Norwegian government recently gave a 2 billion aid for the
Swat IDPs to Pakistan. Does the Norwegian government plan to
give more aid for the same cause?
RK - Norway was
the 4th country to offer aid to the IDPs of Swat. You do
understand that the formation of a budget is a very
important issue for all governments, but I assure you that
in the coming budget, there will be an aid announced for the
Swat IDPs and Pakistan will not be ignored.
NMK - Many
Pakistani people are providing their services in Norway.
Does the Norwegian government plan to start any welfare
programs in Pakistan?
RK - First of
all I'd like to mention that recently, Norway was going
through the election procedures. There has been arguments
about who was going to win the elections, although the
ruling party won the elections in the end. All this time in
the elections, my interest had been whether any person with
a connection to the Pakistani community will be successful
or not. You will be glad to know that recently, a 26 year
old Pakistani Hadia Tajik has become a member of the
parliament. Hadia Tajik is a well-educated and efficient
woman, who won from Oslo on a labour party ticket. Besides
her, there is another Pakistani person who has the chances
of becoming the member parliament and if two people of the
same party winning from Oslo are given other positions, then
another Pakistani has the chance of becoming a complete
member of the parliament. The Pakistani people living in
Norway are living a successful life and are well settled by
all manners. One more thing is that they don't forget their
own country. They are not only providing their services in
Norway but are also working there for the development and
betterment of their own country. In April, I has the honor
to go to the inaugural ceremony of a hospital in a village
near Jhelum, this hospital was established with the efforts
of the Pakistani people living in Norway. Similarly, I once
went to Mandi Baha uddin with Imran Khan, there was a
hospital, which was also built by the efforts of the
Pakistani community in Norway.
NMK - Please
talk about the trade relations between Norway and Pakistan.
RK - Trade
between the two countries is on a very limited scale. Maybe
that is because to the Pakistani businessmen, Norway has a
small market due to its small population. The Norwegian
population equals only a one-third of the population of just
Karachi. Pakistan has a huge market and industry and that is
why I wish that the relations between the Pakistani
exporters and the Norwegian importers become strong. The
Norwegian Ministry of Trade is also working expeditiously in
this regard. Norway is a country producing energy. It has
the technology to produce energy from wind and solar power,
Pakistan can benefit from it. Similarly Pakistan has its own
products, the mangos of Pakistan are among the most
delicious and popular in the whole world, and they are sold
on high prices in Norway. The Pakistani traders should do
something to increase their export.
The Norwegian
Salmon fish is the best in the world in terms of taste and
health. It is being exported to many countries throughout
the world. I think that the Salmon fish should bring here
Pakistani market and that will be beneficial for the people
of in Pakistan. That also has natural anti-aging element in
it and available on a very nominal price.
NMK - The
European Union is about to do a free trade agreement with
India. Norway has close relations with the European Union.
Do you think Pakistan should also form trade agreements to
access European markets?
RK - Good
Question, Although Norway is not a member of European Union,
I do believe that Pakistan should also receive equal access
to European markets. The Pakistani people say that we should
not be given aid but access to trade in the European
markets, I say that access to trade is a basic right. But I
also believe that Pakistan needs immediate aid at this time
to come out of economic problems as soon as possible. There
are talks with the European Union currently going on in a
positive manner about Pakistan getting access to trade in
the European markets and we hope that we will achieve a
positive result to these talks. Norway wishes Pakistan to
have a strong economy. |
