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Sveinung Fjose, Partner, Menon Economics

SPEAKER BIO

Mr. Fjose is a highly experienced project manager with expertise in business economics, International economics, ripple effect analysis and strategy. Prior to Menon, Mr. Fjose worked at Norad (The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Econ Pöyry.

Sveinung Fjose holds the equivalent of a Master’s Degree from the Norwegian School of Economics with a Bachelor’s Degree from Bergen University in Social Science and Economics.

BACKGROUND FOR EVENT TOPIC

In August 2020, the Norwegian consulting firm Menon Economics published a report about Norwegian export. The report was commissioned by Export Credit Norway, an entity wholly owned by the Norwegian Government and administered by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. Export Credit Norway helps Norwegian exporters succeed abroad by offering Norwegian and foreign companies competitive financing when buying goods and services from Norwegian exporters.

The report from Menon Economics, spearheaded by its partner, Sveinung Fjose, looked at the prospects for Norwegian export, and how the tools for promoting Norwegian businesses abroad can help increase Norwegian export in the future. The report analyzed the main identifiers of Norwegian export and how such export has developed over time, compared to Norway’s Scandinavian neighbors. The report compared how Scandinavian countries prioritize export promotion, analyzing organization, strategy and tools.

According to Menon Economics’ report, the world’s economic center has moved from the EU and USA to Asia and emerging markets. Asia and emerging markets have driven economic growth internationally the past several years, and this is expected to continue. Due to aging and significant national debt, it is expected that EU will have relatively slow growth. To maintain higher growth, export industries need to recalibrate their focus from well-known and well-regulated markets in the West to more uncertain and less regulated markets in the East and South. Those countries have significantly different regulatory practices than Norway, and significantly weaker access to information. The potential is big, but difficult to realize.

Norway’s neighbors have acknowledged this and taken action. In the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis, Sweden and Denmark scaled up and adapted its export promotion efforts. These two countries have acknowledged these changes as a necessity to increase export to markets with stronger growth, albeit with more challenging market conditions. Sweden and Denmark has, as a result, experienced an increase in export since the financial crisis. This is in stark contrast to Norway. Almost no other OECD country has had a weaker export growth trajectory over the past 25 years. (OECD is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an intergovernmental economic organization with 37 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.)