Dear guests.

It gives me pleasure to address you here today, and I am glad to see how many people have shown their interest in Nordic Rural development by coming to this conference held by the University of Akureyri.

Akureyri is the capital of Northern Iceland and a thriving center for Rural research and education – hosting the University of Akureyri, a partner in the Nordic Ruralities Network and host of this conference.

Since settlement, we have based our livelihood on what nature has to offer, both on land and from the sea. Icelanders have learned to live and adapt to the changes in the environment caused by the difficult forces of nature.

There are many pressing issues in the regional development sector. The Icelandic government has developed through active dialogue and collaboration between hundreds of Icelanders around the country a decentralised system in regional development – called “The Regional plans of actions”.

The process included consultation with regional federations, local authorities, trade unions and special interest groups. The guiding principle from the very outset was to establish an central vision and common objectives to ensure more targeted and effective policy making and planning within the public sector.

The regional plans of action have been formulated for each of the eight regions, for the years 2015-2019 with contracts with local governments associations.

The prioritization of specific projects within the plans is determined by the local inhabitants in each area. Common forums were defined in each region where local governments, economic and institutional representatives and community leaders within civil society take part.

The new regional plan will be submitted to the Parliament in December 2016.

Part of current regional plan is special programme for fragile communities. Nearly 8% of the country population live in areas with severe depopulation and lack of younger generations. These areas are sparsely populated with long term economic difficulties, limited resources and diminishing services.

The Icelandic Regional Development Institute runs the programme and its main goal is to halt depopulation and strengthen the communities.

Along with the fragile communities programme the government also distributes special regional fishing quota. The quota is intended for small coastal communities who relay mostly upon fisheries and fishing industry. The Regional Development Institute contracts for 3-5 years with the fisheries industry in these communities. The project aims to make more stabilisation in the 11 communities involved which are in the Westfjords, NortEast and SouthEast part of Iceland.

Ladies and gentlemen

In the last years the government has aimed at enforcing the academic base for decision making in regional affairs. Two years ago a Regional Research Fund was established, its aim is to promote regional studies, thus improving the knowledge base for policy and action in regional affairs. This was a due action and already eight studies have received support. In addition grants have also been established for master's students working on theses, in the field of regional development.

I am very optimistic about the future prospects of the Regions. Over the course of the next years we will continue to seek new opportunities. Most importantly, the steps that we take must benefit the people and the communities. Economic diversification should be one priority. Many regions are too dependent on few industries and local economies need to be more resilient.  For this the government has a new plan to put fiber obtic cable to remote areas with government grants.

In Iceland we are currently strong in sectors, such as fisheries, tourism, transportation, industry and geothermal knowhow. We welcome more diverse opportunities and welcome those that want to build on our current expertise.

The service sector particularly Tourism has significant growth potential and plays a very important part in Iceland's economy and that beholds significant opportunities for our regions.

Since taking office last month I have also commissioned the Icelandic regional development institute to make recommendations on how to utilize the tax system for the benefits of rural communities.

Ladies and gentlemen

I am grateful for this opportunity to meet you here today, and I would like to express my best wishes to you all for your important work in strengthening the academic research in Regional development. - I wish you a good day!