The Norwegian Ministry of Finance has excluded two Israeli companies and one Malaysian company from the portfolio of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), also known as the National Oil Fund.
On the recommendation of the Council on Ethics, the Ministry of Finance has decided to exclude the Israeli companies Africa Israel Investments Ltd. and Danya Cebus Ltd. and the Malaysian company Samling Global Ltd. from the GPFGs investment portfolio. The divestment from these companies has now been concluded.
“The decision to exclude these companies from the GPFG is based on the Council on Ethics assessment that they are contributing to or are themselves responsible for grossly unethical activity,” says Minister of Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen (photo).
Africa Israel Investments Ltd. is the parent company of several subsidiaries with interests in property development, infrastructure and energy. The company holds a majority stake in Danya Cebus, a construction company involved in developing settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. The Council on Ethics emphasises that the construction of settlements in occupied areas is a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
“The Council on Ethics bases its recommendation on the fact that the international community is united in the view that the area east of the 1967 line is occupied territory and as such comes under the purview of the fourth Geneva Convention. Several United Nations Security Council resolutions and an International Court of Justice advisory opinion have concluded that the construction of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is prohibited under this Convention. I have therefore accepted the recommendation of the Council on Ethics and am excluding Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus from the fund’s investment portfolio,” says Minister of Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen.
“The Council on Ethics has assessed (Malaysiaan) Samling Global, and concluded that the company’s forest operations in the rainforests of Sarawak and Guyana contribute to illegal logging and severe environmental damage. I have therefore chosen to follow the recommendation of the Council on Ethics and exclude the company from the GPFG’s investment portfolio," The Norwegian Finance Minister says.
(NRK/Press release)
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