Ambassador, distinguished guests,

I am delighted to have the opportunity to open this seminar about investment opportunities in the United Kingdom.

Actually, given recent well publicised Icelandic investment in the UK, one might be excused for thinking that this was one in a long line of such seminars. But I hope that these investments are just the first of many Icelandic investments in the UK and that this seminar will contribute in increasing even further Iceland’s investment position in the UK. 

Iceland has many things going for it.  We pride ourselves on being creative and entrepreneurial.  We are fortunate in having a high standard of education, which so far has produced a number of innovative companies. Iceland now ranks with the countries that allocate the highest share of their national income to education.  Hopefully, this combination will lead to increased Icelandic innovation and entrepreneurial activity and its use abroad.  

It is my opinion that conditions for “start up” companies have seldom been as favourable in Iceland as they are today.  The "invasion" of Icelandic businessmen and their companies abroad has to be seen in conjunction with Iceland's economic development of the past decades.  Few years ago, we started the process of deregulating the economy and privatising government owned companies, for example the commercial banks.  I will not deny that this effort was at least partly influenced of the “English innovation” of deregulation led by Prime Minister Margret Thatcher.  That policy has over the years influenced our economy and created a friendly environment for investors.  For example taxation of corporate profits - the corporate income tax in Iceland - is now 18% which is the lowest in the OECD after Ireland and Hungary.  In the year 1991 before tax reduction began, corporate tax was 50%.  Growth is estimated to be 5,2% for the year 2005 by OECD.

The title of this seminar, "Building bridges," has many meanings.  That´s for example what foreign services around the world strive to do - building political, cultural and economic brigdes between countries.  Our Embassy in London has also taken various initiatives in stimulating business between Iceland and the U.K.  In September last year the Embassy in London organized a multimedia conference which was attended by British companies in the field of film production, music industry, exhibition design, multimedia, computer games, art gallery and banking.  Our Embassy in London and the British Embassy in Reykjavík have also collaborated on numerous projects, the latest one being the possibility of establishing internships for Icelandic business graduates within British financial enterprises in London.  The close cooperation of our two embassies is an excellent example of how teamwork can benefit both sides.

I very much welcome this initiative of the British Embassy in Iceland and the other supporters of this seminar here today.  It is my hope that this seminar will lead to the realisation of many interesting investment ventures between our two countries and that it will not only build more bridges between Iceland and Great Britain, but also further strengthen the bridge which has for so long connected our two countries.

Thank you.