Iceland review - 2013, Síða 81

ICELAND REVIEW 79
with his attempts to acquire and later rent grímsstaðir á Fjöllum,
an extensive piece of land in Northeast Iceland, to develop tour-
ism in the region. Former Minister of the Interior Ögmundur
Jónasson strongly opposed Huang’s plans. “We haven’t taken a
position on the acquisition of land by foreign investors—although
I would like to make sure that the majority of the country remains
in domestic ownership—but I favor ideas of local companies buy-
ing grímsstaðir and leasing it to Huang,” reveals Sigmundur.
According to the agreement, the new government also plans
to take advantage of big opportunities in the oil and gas sec-
tor—harnessing the potential resources as soon as possible and
establishing a state-owned oil company—as well making Iceland
a leading nation in the affairs of the Arctic Region. Simplification
of the taxation system with lower taxes and tariffs is planned, along
with improved healthcare outside the capital region and halting
depopulation of rural areas, improved conditions for farmers with
increased food production and exports and improvements to fish-
eries control with changes to the newly-introduced fishing tariff.
When asked about her opinion of the government agreement
by national broadcaster RÚV, former Prime Minister Jóhanna
Sigurðardóttir commented, “I was a bit surprised about all the
committees they plan to appoint,” calling the agreement unclear
and unsystematic. Jóhanna’s coalition partner, former Minister of
Industries and Innovation Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, added that he
felt many things were missing from the agreement. “I was stunned
to see that the national budget wasn’t mentioned at all.”
POLITICs
Prime Minister of iceland Sigmundur davíð gunnlaugsson.
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