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NORWAY

Norway jumps Sweden in ‘global competitiveness’

Norway has been crowned the best place to do business in Scandinavia by Switzerland’s IMD business school, leaping three places since last year’s ranking to overtake its rival Sweden.

Published: 27 May 2015 23:06 CEST
Norway jumps Sweden in 'global competitiveness'
IMD's
The oil-rich nation was named the seventh most competitive country worldwide in the annual ranking, and the third most competitive in Europe after Switzerland and Luxembourg. 
 
Denmark came closely behind in eighth place, followed by Sweden, down four places since last year, in ninth. 
 
“Simply put, business efficiency requires greater productivity and the competitiveness of countries is greatly linked to the ability of enterprises to remain profitable over time,” Professor Arturo Bris, the director of IMD’s World Competitiveness Center said in a statement. ”Increasing productivity remains a fundamental challenge for all countries.”
 
The USA remained the top of the ranking thanks to its strong business efficiency and financial sector, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore, who both overtook Switzerland this year,  pushing it into fourth place
 
The rankings of 61 countries are based on statistical indicators, as well as a survey of 6,234 international executives.
 
IMD assesses 'business efficiency' through indicators related to productivity such as the labour market, finance, management practices and the attitudes and values of the business environment.
 

NORWAY

Norway to send 200,000 AstraZeneca doses to Sweden and Iceland

Norway, which has suspended the use of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine until further notice, will send 216,000 doses to Sweden and Iceland at their request, the Norwegian health ministry said Thursday.

Published: 22 April 2021 14:29 CEST
Norway to send 200,000 AstraZeneca doses to Sweden and Iceland
Empty vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

“I’m happy that the vaccines we have in stock can be put to use even if the AstraZeneca vaccine has been paused in Norway,” Health Minister Bent Høie said in a statement.

The 216,000 doses, which are currently stored in Norwegian fridges, have to be used before their expiry dates in June and July.

Sweden will receive 200,000 shots and Iceland 16,000 under the expectation they will return the favour at some point. 

“If we do resume the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, we will get the doses back as soon as we ask,” Høie said.

Like neighbouring Denmark, Norway suspended the use of the AstraZeneca jab on March 11 in order to examine rare but potentially severe side effects, including blood clots.

Among the 134,000 AstraZeneca shots administered in Norway before the suspension, five cases of severe thrombosis, including three fatal ones, had been registered among relatively young people in otherwise good health. One other person died of a brain haemorrhage.

On April 15, Norway’s government ignored a recommendation from the Institute of Public Health to drop the AstraZeneca jab for good, saying it wanted more time to decide.

READ MORE: Norway delays final decision on withdrawal of AstraZeneca vaccine 

The government has therefore set up a committee of Norwegian and international experts tasked with studying all of the risks linked to the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which is also suspected of causing blood clots.

Both are both based on adenovirus vector technology. Denmark is the only European country to have dropped the AstraZeneca
vaccine from its vaccination campaign, and said on Tuesday it would “lend” 55,000 doses to the neighbouring German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

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