For just over a week I have been giving lectures and attending workshops on intercultural dialog and civic service ethics in Baltic and Scandinavian countries, and I am heartened by the level of interest and feedback from European academics and statesmen.
Posts Tagged ‘Scandinavian Countries’
Warm hearts and clear minds in Iceland [ Muhammed Et N ]
Thursday, May 13th, 2010Icesave should not sour Nordic relations: Iceland FM
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Icelandic Foreign Minister, Ossur Skarphedinsson this evening said he believes it would be very difficult for the Nordic nations to freeze their loans to Iceland.
He said that it is not only the Nordic sense of togetherness that would complicate matters, but also the speeches and sentiments coming from Scandinavia in recent weeks and months that would make a U-turn embarrassing for Scandinavia and a heavy body-blow to Iceland.
He went on to point out that despite the President’s decision to send the Icesave Bill to a public vote, the bill has nonetheless become law – at least until such time as the public vote takes place. If the public then vote the law down, the previous Icesave law would come back into effect. Although the August Icesave law proved unsatisfactory for the British and Dutch governments, it did nonetheless categorically state that Iceland will reimburse the two countries’ Icesave losses.
The Nordic loans were, despite assurances, always dependant on Iceland’s parliament adopting an Icesave solution and the President’s potential for complicating the issue was hardly taken into account at the time. Skarphedinsson conceded that there would likely be no diplomatic crisis between Iceland and Scandinavia if the loans were to be refused because of Icesave. The Scandinavian countries have, he said, always treated Iceland fairly and their leaders have all agreed, in principle, that Icesave should not affect their relationships with Iceland.
Iceland to take up offered loan from Scandinavia
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
Mar Gudmundsson, Chairman of the Central Bank of Iceland has confirmed that a portion of the promised loan to Iceland from the Scandinavian countries will be requested before the beginning of December and will hopefully be received before Christmas.
Gudmundsson made his announcement in a speech to the Society of Business Administrators and Economists yesterday while talking about the Central Bank’s current projects. The promised Scandinavian loans which Iceland has access to amount to EUR 1.8 billion, or ISK 330 billion.
According to RUV, the Central Bank chairman would not be drawn on how much of the loan amount will be requested. The answer to that question would have to come from the Minister of Finance, he said.
Gudmundsson said he hopes only a small portion of the loan will actually be needed as there are still plenty of funds available in Iceland and the system does not appear to be under financial attack at the moment. Every day that loan funds are not needed saves Iceland money, he said.
Sweden leads FTTH technology
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
FTTH, or Fibre To The Home technology, continues to be dominated by Scandinavian countries in the latest statistics released by the FTTH Council Europe at the latest Parisian forum on Broadband technology.
FTTH is seen as the way of the future and refers to fibre optic cabling that is slowly replacing the traditional copper wiring of most telecommunications companies. The advantages of FTTH are that it can easily carry high-speed broadband services which integrate data, video and voice, and for is also referred to as FTTB or Fibre To The Building, Broadband TV News reports.
Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland also feature in the top ten for FTTH penetration, highlighting the Nordic region’s advancement in telecommunication. Statistics show that close to 70 percent of all fibre optic home usage can be found in the Scandinavian region alone.
The council’s aim is to push FTTH into all homes and businesses across Europe, whilst educating the public of the benefits and advantages of the technology. The rankings are carried out by the IDATE, a French company founded in 1977 which has long been recognised as the leading market analyst in strategic advice for the media, internet and telecoms industries. The study was commissioned by MIC, Europe’s monitoring and commissioning network as part of the FTTH council’s marketing study, Panorama.
The study ranks countries on percentage penetration, with latest results showing only Sweden and second place Norway reaching the 10 percent threshold. The Nordic region of Europe is of course home to Swedish mobile powerhouse Ericsson and the world’s leading mobile communications company, Nokia.
Too proud for help, not anymore
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009The people of Iceland are being punished for the misbehavior of the countries financial elite
This might come as an surprise to some, Iceland had its share of financial elites, I say had because they are all gone now. Most of them are running away as fast as they can, trying to move all valuables to tax-havens before the government puts a freeze on there assets. Yes, the government of Iceland has yet to freeze any assets since the banking crisis hit almost 10 months ago.
The world never stops to let me down, everything is falling apart, there is no trust left anywhere. Even the Social Democrats who came into power only a few months ago, when Iceland elected its first pure left government, have done nothing but let us down. From a fresh breeze to a rotten old smell of disgusting politics, only a few days are needed to turn a group of decent parliamentarians into pale blood sucking pack of scumbags.
Last summer, If anyone had asked my if Iceland needed help I would have laughed in their face. Help? We don’t need anyone, we have everything right here and more. The investigations into the collapse is going slowly, but these things are complicated, that’s why we have imported help from Norway in the form of Eva Joly. Right now, that’s all the hope I have left in the system, it has come down to a single person almost. If Eva Joly can’t get those bankers, no one can.
We can’t wait for the EU membership, that thing takes years, and why should Iceland join the EU anyway? The other Scandinavian countries have turned there back on us. No help from there, unless we agree to pay billions for the Icesave accounts. Its a fact, the regular Joe’s of Iceland had no clue how the Icelandic banks could offer better interest rates then Deutsche bank. We can’t pay anyway, its just too much for tiny Iceland. The Icelandic Economic Miracle was all a big shame, we know that now, sorry. Please don’t let us pay for the sins of a handful of bankers. They had us for fools.
- Andri Sigurðsson
Investment opportunities in the largest country in the world can be even bigger
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
On Tuesday in the Russian capital of Moscow, President Barack Obama had a meeting with a Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, offering a true partnership. Officials of the United States described the two hour talk as “very successful”. To the Russian people, especially the younger population, his speech brings lots of hope for Russia’s new future.
PepsiCo Inc. is currently planning to invest more than $4 billion into Russia’s food and drink market. “This investment reflects very clearly our great confidence in Russia and our long-term commitment to this very important market,” said PepsiCo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi. Boeing will announce a partnership with a Russian titanium maker. Among Scandinavian countries, Swedish retailer Ikea is planning to make Russia one of the main targeted countries, hoping to open 30 stores in near future. Iceland also has investment groups such as Loftleidir (a division of Icelandair), Iceland Seafood, and MP-Bank who are currently doing business within Russia.
People always thought that after the collapse of communism in Russia there would be a major step forward in regards to more opportunities for Western and Scandinavian business. After almost 18 years this has not quite worked out that way. Lots of companies are still questioning the safety of doing business with Russia. “No rule” of law in this country makes vast marketing a risky one. At the same time companies do realize that there are higher returns and lots of opportunities.
Russia’s current major industries are in oil, natural gases, metals, and timber. These industries account for 80% of Russia’s exports as well as IT outsourcing, mobile technology and manufacturing, and banking. However, Western goods and expertise immensely stay in demand, particularly skills in transport, construction, ICT, engineering and teaching. President Barack Obama’ visit to Russia has brought some new hopes for doing business in Russia and overall new partnership.