12 August 2015 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario met with his counterpart, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Norway, H.E. Børge Brende, on August 04 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the sidelines of the 48th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting.
Secretary del Rosario said that the bilateral meeting with Norway was an opportunity to revisit not only the bilateral partnership between the Philippines and Norway, but also the strengthening relationship between ASEAN and Norway. During the meeting, ASEAN conferred the status of Sectoral Dialogue Partner to Norway, the status just before becoming a full Dialogue Partner.
The Secretary thanked Norway for its important role in the peace process as part of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB).
Norway said that it hopes to share its best practices in maritime issues and development cooperation, aside from peace and reconciliation efforts.
Norway is also a trade partner of the Philippines, not only bilaterally, but also through the four-member EFTA, composed of Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Iceland. The Philippines is negotiating a free trade area (FTA) with EFTA, which as a group is the 11th largest economy in the world. Secretary del Rosario said he hopes for negotiations to be concluded within this year. END