Tazeen Akhtar | Islamabad
Ambassador of Norway to Pakistan, H.E Per Albert Ilsaas has completed his tenure in Islamabad and is assuming his next assignment in Australia soon. He served his country for 5 years in Pakistan and contributed to fostering the bilateral relations and economic cooperation in all sectors including Information and digital technology, Telecom, humanitarian cooperation and Human Rights.
He developed good relations with key Pakistani officials and organizational leaders focusing on further strengething the mutual partnerships and joint ventures.
Dressed in Pakistani Shalwar Qameez , he welcomed the guests from different walks of life at his residence to the farewell dinner hosted by him for the friends of Norway.
He worked on humanitarian programs and community resilience initiatives. Participated in high-level European Union and European diplomatic delegations’ meetings with ministers discussing human rights, GSP+ status, and legal reforms. He was engaged with Sindh gov to discuss mutual investment opportunities and public-private partnerships.
He held consultations with Pakistan Telecom Authority regarding ICT sector investments and digital innovation opportunities for Norwegian firms. At parliamentary level, Ambassador Ilsaas worked with MNA Zeb Jaffar, Convener of the Pak-Norway Parliamentary Friendship Group, to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
This April Pakistan and Norway signed the country’s first landmark bilateral agreement under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, opening the door to international carbon trading, climate finance and major investment in clean energy and climate-smart agriculture.
The accord marked the beginning of a new era in bilateral environmental cooperation. Pakistan is among the countries most affected by climate change, and we believe this partnership can deliver both measurable emission reductions and real development benefits.
This May, Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway, H.E. Mr. Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik visited Pakistan. In his meetings with DPM/FM and other officials , he reiterated Norway’s support for Pakistan’s constructive role and its ongoing efforts toward a peaceful and durable resolution of the conflict. Both sides also explored avenues to further strengthen bilateral relations and deepen engagement across diverse sectors of mutual interest.
Many Pakistan officials including ministers visited Norway or held meetings at sidelines of international conferences in the meanwhile and discussed venues of mutual cooperation that further added to already existing bilateral understanding to maintain and promote the cordial relations into meaningful cooperation.
The guests included Former caretaker Prime Minister Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakkar, Senator Sherry Rehman, MNA Romina Khurshid Alam, Additional Secretary MOFA Ambassador Hamid Asghar Khan, Former DG ISI, MI Lt Gen R Asad Durrani, Former Ambassador Pakistan to US Maliha Laudhi, Dean of Diplomatic Corp Amb Turkmenistan Atadjan Movlamov, Ambassadors of European Countries and Ukraine , ASEAN states and others., rofessor Pervez HoodBhoy.
Leading names from Telecom sector Zohair A. Khaliq , Abdul Aziz were also present there.
Zohair A. Khaliq , replying to my question about the reason why Telenor left Pakistan? Internal decision or the unfavourable telecom landscape in the country? He briefly said, ” It was not about some internal decision, it was due to the state of affaris here.”
Norway has special connection and relation with Pakistan in all EU countries. The largest immigrant community in Norway is from Pakistan and major part of this community consists of people from Kharian sub division of Gujrat district in Northern Paunjab. That is the reason Kharian is also called Kharway like Norway .
Pakistani Norwegians make up one of the largest non-Western immigrant groups in Norway, with about 39,257 people as of 2019, or 0.7% of the population tracing their roots back to labor migration in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Around 65% to 70% of the community resides in the capital city of Oslo and nearby areas like Drammen. Followed by family reunification, second and third generations are now deeply integrated into Norwegian society as professionals and politicians.
The biggest investment from Norway in Pakistan was in telecom sector by renown TELENOR whose work and network is being taken care of now by UFone as the company wrapped up its operations in Pakistan due to the state of the state. Telenor Pakistan was formally amalgamated into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) from 01 July 2026, as final statutory approval was granted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Telenor started its operations in Pakistan in March 2005. Over the years, Telenor invested more than $2 billion in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan.PTCL acquired Telenor Pakistan on 31 December 2025.
As of June 2026, Telenor Pakistan had a total subscriber base of 44 million in Pakistan, among which 29 million were 4G/LTE subscribers. With a market share of 22%, it is currently the third largest mobile phone network in Pakistan.The combined share of the merged entity now stands at 35.91pc.
Telenor Pakistan’s corporate headquarters were set up in Islamabad, with regional offices in Peshawar, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Hyderabad, Quetta and Karachi. In November 2017, Telenor Pakistan inaugurated its new headquarters building in Islamabad, named ‘345’ after Telenor’s number dialing prefix ‘0345’. The new headquarter was built at a cost of $80 million.
