• Burmese
Monday, October 2, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
28 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Switch to Telenor by Ex-Ambassador to Burma Provokes Criticism in Norway

by Paul Vrieze
June 4, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Switch to Telenor by Ex-Ambassador to Burma Provokes Criticism in Norway

A view of the office building of Norwegian firm Telenor in central Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

8.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — The recent appointment of Katja Nordgaard, Norway’s former ambassador to Burma, to Executive Vice President at the Oslo-based telecommunications firm Telenor Group has come under scrutiny in the Norwegian media, with critics questioning whether she is using her public position to gain advantages for the private sector.

As ambassador to Burma, Thailand and Cambodia from 2010 to 2013, Nordgaard oversaw the normalization of relations with Burma’s reformist government and helped secure deals between the government and Norwegian firms, including for the multinational company that that she will be joining in August.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar’s KNU Distances Itself From Ex-Chairman Who Met With Junta Boss

Myanmar’s KNU Distances Itself From Ex-Chairman Who Met With Junta Boss

October 2, 2023
159
Myanmar’s Cash-Strapped Junta Hikes Taxes, Utilities Despite Surging Inflation

Myanmar’s Cash-Strapped Junta Hikes Taxes, Utilities Despite Surging Inflation

October 2, 2023
463
Blackouts Lengthen in Yangon as Power Crisis Worsens in Myanmar

Blackouts Lengthen in Yangon as Power Crisis Worsens in Myanmar

October 2, 2023
1k

Telenor won a hotly contested bid last year for a US$500 million license that will allow it to develop telecommunications infrastructure and operate mobile phone services in Burma for 15 years.

Telenor and Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs have said that the move by Nordgaard, who is currently Norway’s ambassador to Thailand and Cambodia, does not violate any ethics policy.

However, Norway’s major newspapers, Dagens Naeringsliv and Aftenposten, ran critical articles last week about her switch from diplomat to Telenor executive, saying that it blurred the line between Norway’s public and private sector interests in Burma.

Audun Aagre, director of the Norwegian Burma Committee, told Dagens Naeringsliv, “Nordgaard has maintained good and close relations with Burmese authorities and has been one of their strongest defenders internationally.

“There can be little doubt that this is one of the reasons why Telenor is hiring her.”

Halvor Leira, chair of the research group on foreign policy and diplomacy at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, told the paper, “I find this [move] a bit peculiar.”

“When you are an ambassador, you represent Norway abroad. When you go from representing Norway’s interests abroad to representing Telenor’s interests abroad, you use the contacts that you have built up as a public person for private gain,” Leira said.

Critics said Nordgaard’s position as a supporter of President Thein Sein’s government, and her subsequent move to a company that was granted Burmese government licenses, could damage Norway’s reputation with the democratic opposition, ethnic groups and human rights activists.

Aagre said, “Our experience is that an increasing number of Burmese organizations are questioning Norway’s strategy in Burma. It is important that Norwegian authorities distinguish clearly between the political goals of democracy and human rights, and the goals of Norwegian business.

“It would be sad if a mixing of roles were to undermine the trust that Norway has built up over 20 years” when it supported the democratic opposition, Aagre said.

“MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] can say whatever they want, but this is about reputation, about how this will be perceived in Myanmar—this is something that MFA cannot control,” Leira said.

“Norway is a country which in recent years has gone from having a close relationship with the democracy movement to a close relationship with the authorities,” said Camilla Buzzi, Norwegian Church Aid’s country program manager in Burma. “Katja Nordgaard has had a key role in the normalization of the relationship between Norway and Myanmar and has opened doors for Norwegian businesses wanting to enter the country.

“This creates uncertainty about Norway’s motivations in Myanmar,” she said.

Norway has long supported Burma’s democratic opposition and the ethnic minority refugees stranded on the Thai-Burma border. When it launched the $2 million Myanmar Peace Support Initiative in 2012, however, the project drew the ire of border-based civil society groups, who said it had failed to properly consult them and was closely aligned to the Burmese government’s peace process objectives.

Your Thoughts …
Previous Post

Film Set for Premier on 60th Anniversary of Burma’s First Hijacking

Next Post

Craftsmen and Toymakers Struggle to Survive in Sagaing

Paul Vrieze

Paul Vrieze

Similar Picks:

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

September 14, 2023
20.7k
Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

August 18, 2023
15.7k
Three Myanmar Police Chiefs Sacked

Three Myanmar Police Chiefs Sacked

September 15, 2023
13.3k
Myanmar Junta’s Central Bank Had $6.8 Bn in Reserves at 14 Int’l Banks in March

Myanmar Junta’s Central Bank Had $6.8 Bn in Reserves at 14 Int’l Banks in March

August 21, 2023
13.2k
Power-Drunk Junta Tries Selling Myanmar Beer at Gunpoint

Power-Drunk Junta Tries Selling Myanmar Beer at Gunpoint

September 14, 2023
11.4k
Myanmar Resistance’s Next Steps are Clear; It’s the Junta’s that Aren’t

Myanmar Resistance’s Next Steps are Clear; It’s the Junta’s that Aren’t

August 8, 2023
10.6k
Load More
Next Post
Craftsmen and Toymakers Struggle to Survive in Sagaing

Craftsmen and Toymakers Struggle to Survive in Sagaing

Burmese Nationalist Campaign to Call for Anti-Ooredoo Boycott

Burmese Nationalist Campaign to Call for Anti-Ooredoo Boycott

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Coup Leader Fires Two Members of Junta’s Highest Body for Corruption

Myanmar Coup Leader Fires Two Members of Junta’s Highest Body for Corruption

6 days ago
2.5k
Myanmar’s Military Bogged Down in North as Resistance Rises

Myanmar’s Military Bogged Down in North as Resistance Rises

3 days ago
1.7k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Travel Sector Mocks Junta Tourist Claim

    Myanmar Travel Sector Mocks Junta Tourist Claim

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Blackouts Lengthen in Yangon as Power Crisis Worsens in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Dozens of Myanmar Junta Forces Killed in Three Days of Resistance Attacks

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Junta Boss Issues Warning as Corruption Scandal Engulfs Myanmar Regime 

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Says Chinese Crime Blockbuster ‘Tarnishes’ Reputation

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.