Finding Norwegian Business Partners from France

Two complementary economies

The trade relationship between France and Norway is often described as complementary. According to the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Norway is France's leading supplier of natural gas, accounting for around 40 percent of French gas supplies, and Norwegian salmon has long had one of its largest markets in France. In the other direction, Norway mainly imports machines, electrical components, electronics and, above all, transport equipment from France, according to the French ambassador in an interview published by the French-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce.

For a French company this means that Norway is a market where French products already have a place, and where buyers are used to working with French suppliers, particularly in energy, transport, industry and food.

Norway is in the EEA, not the EU

Through the EEA Agreement, Norway takes part in the European single market and applies most EU product rules. But Norway is not in the EU customs union, so goods from France go through customs and Norwegian VAT applies. Food and agricultural products follow special rules and can face tariffs. Check the rules for your products with Norwegian Customs (toll.no) before you quote.

Industry codes are easy to compare: France's NAF classification and Norway's SN2025 are both national versions of the EU's NACE, so they match at the higher levels.

Where French companies find a fit

• Energy and maritime. Norway's energy and offshore sector, shipping and shipbuilding buy equipment, engineering and services. Cooperation in energy and the climate is central to the relationship between the two countries.
• Transport and industry. Norwegian importers and industrial companies buy vehicles, rail and transport equipment, machinery and electrical components.
• Food and drink. Wine, cheese and specialty foods reach Norwegian consumers through importers and, for alcoholic drinks above a certain strength, through the state retail monopoly Vinmonopolet, which has its own purchasing process.
• Technology and services, sold directly to Norwegian companies or through Norwegian partners.

Search for the industry of the buyer, not your own: a French maker of electrical components would look at electrical wholesalers, electrical contractors and industrial companies.

A practical method

1. Define the target: direct customers, distributors and importers (often in industry group 46, wholesale), integrators, or public buyers.
2. Build a list from Norway's open company register, Enhetsregisteret. Propler's free company search filters a nightly copy of the register by industry group, county, municipality, legal form, employees and more. In the AI search (free account) you can describe what you sell in plain language and get suggested Norwegian companies with reasons. Suggestions are decision support, not proof of a buying need.
3. Check every company: active status, legal form (AS corresponds roughly to a SAS or SARL), filed annual accounts, CEO and board, and its own website. Our Norwegian company data guide explains the sources.
4. Follow public tenders. Norwegian public buyers announce contracts in Doffin and, above the EEA thresholds, on TED, the same EU portal French public buyers use.
5. Contact a few companies well, usually in English; say why you contact them and what the next step is.

Our guide to finding business partners in Norway from abroad covers the general method, including Norway's consent rule for e-mail marketing to individuals. For French companies wondering about the reverse direction, our France market page explains French company data sources.

Reading a Norwegian company the way a French one is read

Many French companies are used to checking a counterpart through an extract from the trade register and its published accounts. The Norwegian equivalents are free and online:

• The organisation number (organisasjonsnummer, nine digits) plays the role of the SIREN number. It identifies the company in every Norwegian register, on invoices and in public tenders.
• The company register shows legal form, registered address, industry code, registered employees for many companies, VAT registration, the CEO (daglig leder) and the board, and whether the company is bankrupt or being wound up.
• The annual accounts of limited companies are filed with the Register of Company Accounts by 31 July each year and are public. Revenue, operating result and equity give a quick picture of size and solidity.
• The company's own website tells you which customers it serves and which brands it already represents, which matters if you are looking for a distributor.

Every company page in Propler shows these facts together, with the date the data was fetched.

Who can help

• The French-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce (Chambre de Commerce Franco-Norvégienne, CCFN) in Oslo, which celebrated its centenary in 2019. It acts as a go-between for French and Norwegian companies and represents Team France Export in Norway, with services such as market studies, help with company registration and business events.
• The French embassy in Oslo and Business France / Team France Export.
• The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Paris (norway.no/france), which publishes information on Norwegian-French trade.
• Innovation Norway, which works abroad together with Norway's embassies and follows Norwegian companies active in its regions.

What Norwegian buyers expect

• Clear customs and delivery terms, since goods cross a customs border.
• Local presence or a partner for service and support.
• Supply chain transparency. Larger Norwegian companies must, under the Transparency Act in force since 1 July 2022, carry out due diligence on human rights and working conditions in their supply chains, similar in spirit to France's duty of vigilance law. Expect questions.
• Short, specific communication. Norwegian business culture tends to be informal and direct.

If you carry out business activities in Norway yourself, you will usually need a Norwegian organisation number, typically by registering a Norwegian branch (NUF) through Altinn.

Where Propler fits

Propler is built to make it easier to see which Norwegian companies are relevant to what you offer, and why. It covers Norwegian companies only; French company search is not available. Read more on our About page and about the Norwegian market on the Norway market page.