Historical archive

FK Norway to move to Førde

Historical archive

Published under: Solberg's Government

Publisher: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

'The Government has decided that FK Norway will move to Førde in western Norway. The Government considers it important to ensure that Norway also has strong centres of international expertise outside Oslo,' said Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende.

FK Norway administers an exchange scheme for sharing experience and expertise between Norway and countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. FK Norway is an agency directly under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has about 40 employees. Altogether around 10 000 people have taken part in exchanges since 2000. The allocation to FK Norway for 2017 is NOK 188 million.

'The Government is working to strengthen the labour market throughout Norway. Moving FK Norway to Førde will have the best effect in terms of regional policy. This will help to build a stronger regional centre in the new municipality in Sunnfjord,' said Minister of Local Government and Modernisation Jan Tore Sanner.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assessed the consequences of moving FK Norway to Trondheim, Stavanger or Førde. It has been found that moving FK Norway will entail increased costs both in the transition phase and while the new offices are being established. In the longer term, the additional costs will be marginal, and mainly due to travel costs. At the same time, the move could encourage the development of other international activities in Førde.

'Førde municipality has shown great interest in FK Norway moving there. We will work with the management and employees of FK Norway to ensure that the organisation can carry out its work just as well as before,' said Mr Brende.