Iceland review - 2016, Page 98

96 ICELAND REVIEW
INVEST IN ICELAND
SPECIAL PROMOTION
LOCATION +
LEGISLATION
Iceland is perfectly located midway be-
tween North America and Europe, and
connected by high-speed submarine
fiber cables and direct flights from Kefla-
vík International Airport to more than 70
cities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Iceland offers a favorable business en-
vironment and a great, unspoiled natural
environment, with the availability of land
and 100 percent green and sustainable
energy—all within the European legisla-
tive framework—with a highly-qualified
workforce.
The International Telecommunication
Union ranked Iceland third out of 167
countries in its 2015 ICT Development In-
dex, based on information and communi-
cation technologies.
Data centers, life sciences and tourism
are the three sectors attracting the most
foreign investment at the moment.
The country is attractive for data cen-
ters because of green and competitively
priced energy, the cold climate and good
connections to the east and west. In life
sciences, Iceland has a proven record
forged by firms like Actavis and deCode.
As for tourism: well, it seems right now
that everyone wants to see and experi-
ence the hot nightlife of Reykjavík, the
cold glaciers, and everything in between.
Last year, 1.4 million tourists came to Ice-
land, up by 400,000 visitors in only one
year—more than the entire population of
Iceland.
Iceland and Switzerland are the only
European countries to have established
free trade agreements with China—open-
ing up unprecedented opportunities for
North American and European companies
to use Iceland as a stepping stone to gain
a foothold in one of the largest and fast-
est-growing markets in the world.
Most importantly, our government is
stable, we have robust corporate legisla-
tion, low crime and corruption rates and
low corporate taxes—all in a country con-
nected to the world in the fastest possible
ways.

Many investment opportunities exist in Iceland.
INTRODUCTION BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.
SUPPLEMENT COMPILED BY ALËX ELLIOTT, JENNA GOTTLIEB AND LARISSA KYZER.