Mr./Madame Chair, dear colleagues,

Let me start by thanking you for the opportunity to meet with the West Nordic Council here today. The topic of this meeting focuses on the West Nordic region in the Arctic and cooperation possibilities which I believe should allow us to engage in an interesting dialogue on current and important issues.

In the past years and decades, the world has turned its eye towards the Arctic - and for a good reason. The Arctic is blessed with numerous economic opportunities relating to shipping, logistics and tourism to mention only a few. The Arctic region also faces urgent challenges, not least related to the effects of climate change. This encourages us to cooperate in the international arena as we also seek to address those demanding issues domestically.

It is our collective responsibility to use this increased interest in the Arctic to highlight to the rest of the world how important the region is. At the same time, it is equally, or even more, important to make sure that our own citizens and decision-makers realize the potential that we have in the Arctic region. This includes us here in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

One of the points highlighted in Iceland´s Arctic policy from 2011 is strengthening and increasing the cooperation with the Faroe Islands and Greenland - with the aim of promoting the interests and political position of the three countries. This is an important point for Iceland as it is both logical and practical for us to increase cooperation with our most immediate and close neighbors to the east and west.

Important steps towards increasing our cooperation were taken by establishing the General Consulates in Tórshavn and Nuuk in 2005 and 2013 respectively. The role of these offices is to expand and strengthen our relations to the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

The possibilities for increased cooperation are numerous. Iceland, for example, has seen great increase in tourism in the past few year and numerous cooperation possibilities exist in marketing Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands together as a tourist destination. We also see the recent cooperation agreement between the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip and Royal Arctic Line providing possibilities to increase the Greenlandic imports and exports in connection to the new container terminal in Nuuk.

Dear colleagues,
Approximately one year ago, the Foreign Ministers of our three countries agreed to establish a working group to draft a proposal for a cooperation agreement between the three countries. The working group has now presented its conclusions and a draft cooperation agreement between the West Nordic countries has been concluded on their basis. I am pleased to inform you that the aim is to sign this agreement at our Ministerial meeting later today.

The cooperation agreement foresees that the Foreign Ministers of the West Nordic countries engage in a political dialogue on an annual basis. Furthermore, a special working group will be set up to identify cooperation possibilities, work towards the removal of trade barriers between the three countries and follow up on political instructions for increased cooperation, such as recommendations by the West Nordic Council.

In addition, the working group addressed several interesting issues, which were considered to require further consultations. Amongst those I would like to mention the idea of a West Nordic Free Trade Agreement and a West Nordic Trade Council. These ideas are worth considering with open minds in the coming months.

Dear friends,
Within the Arctic Council cooperation, the Finnish two years Chairmanship began last spring. The Finns have outlined their chairmanship program with focus on environmental protection, communication in the Arctic and education and metrological cooperation between the Arctic states. This is a pragmatic and practical chairmanship program and we are confident that it will be successful and produce substantial outcomes for the Arctic Council.
We look forward to working with the Faroe Islands and Greenland on these priorities as well as the ongoing eighty projects that the Arctic Council and its working groups are currently working on.

Iceland supported the application of the West Nordic Council for observer status in the Arctic Council. Our position has been that we should welcome observers into the Arctic Council that have a genuine interest and real stake in following developments in the Arctic.
For us it is self-evident that the West Nordic Council is such an actor and I am pleased to welcome the West Nordic Council as an observer in the Arctic Council as decided by the Fairbanks Ministerial Meeting in Alaska last May.
In spring 2019 Iceland will take over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council. We have already taken the first steps in the preparations by organizing a large workshop earlier this year, gathering some key actors and institutions that are working on Arctic issues here in Iceland.

Today, the Arctic Council agenda is both broader and deeper than before, comprising issues like culture, education, science, research, economic opportunities and search and rescue. Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland already cooperate on many levels and our economies are closely connected.

We can do more to broaden and deepen cooperation in our region and I look forward to discussing this with you. I hope that this brief outline has given you some ideas of the importance my government puts on the Arctic and how significant it is for us to cooperate in the West Nordic region.

Thank you.