SHILLONG: Iceland Ambassador Thorir Ibsen is in Shillong to explore possibilities for collaboration in sectors like energy, aquaculture, horticulture and tourism. Ibsen, who arrived on December 13, is here till December 16.
Speaking to this correspondent on Wednesday at the Royal Heritage Hotel, Ambassador Ibsen said, “The strength of Iceland lies in its natural resources of which the three principal resources are fisheries, renewable energy (hydro and geo-thermal) and tourism. Iceland is a market and export economy and each of the above three sectors brings in about one-third of foreign exchange. The per capita income of an Icelander is US $45,000.”
Outlining the purpose of his visit, Ibsen said he had learnt that Meghalaya is moving in a big way towards aquaculture and so he is interested to find out if there can be areas of cooperation in this sector since Iceland has ample expertise and substantial earnings from aquaculture.
Stating that Iceland is a large island of 103,000 sq km with a population of only 3.2 lakh, Ibsen said there are no indigenous people in Iceland. “Iceland is inhabited by migrants who came there from the Nordic countries comprising Vikings and Celtic people but we are an egalitarian society with gender equality. We speak Icelandic, which is called ‘Islenka’.”
In Iceland, children are taught only Icelandic up to the primary level. After that, they learn English and Nordic and one other European language. Interestingly, though Iceland is part of the Schengen countries, it is outside the European Union but is connected to the economy of Europe vide the European Economic Area Agreement where Iceland trades its products.
Ibsen informed that while fisheries is a major industry of Iceland and is capital intensive, it is the scientists who decide how much fish to farm and not the markets. Tourism attracts about 1.5 million tourists annually, which is almost half of the population of Iceland.
When asked if Iceland exported salmon, Ambassador Ibsen said, “We cannot compete with Denmark in salmon farming (and) hence we concentrate on trout and other wild fish.”
Ibsen informed that Iceland businessmen are in discussions with the government and business sectors in India to explore prospects of start-up companies in the area of food supplements and cosmetics since the warm waters of Iceland are rich sources of these supplements, adding that Iceland could also provide technology in lengthening the growing season of certain crops and horticulture produce.
The ambassador will be exploring Meghalaya in the next few days. “I am told this state is very beautiful and would like to move around here. I too come from a beautiful country where the climate is moderated by the ocean. People come to Iceland to savour the clean air,” Ambassador Ibsen quipped.
