Iceland looks to opportunities for diversification and ESG
Arnar Gudmundsson, head of foreign direct investment for Business Iceland, had some large opportunities to talk to investors about in relation to the small island country.
“In Iceland there are actually a couple of quite large projects coming up,” Gudmundsson says. “By far the largest is probably the total development of 55 square kilometres of land around KEF International Airport [Iceland’s main airport]. That’s quite a unique opportunity I believe because this is a transatlantic aviation hub so the project there is going to involve everything from hospitality to logistics, to an industrial park close to a deep sea harbour as well, so it’s an exciting area.”
There are number of other investor-ready projects around the country as well. “There are some hospitality opportunities because we’ve been enjoying quite a fast growth in the hospitality industry in Iceland. The number of visitors has been increasing year on year now and we are reaching pre-Covid heights and exceeding them, so there is need for development there,” he says.
Such developments are part of a diversification of Iceland’s investment sectors and sources. “The traditional investments from abroad have been in energy intensive industries, but in the last years we’ve seen a great diversification. We’re seeing investment into life sciences, pharmaceuticals, there’s quite a lot of interest now in things like future foods, vertical farming producing microalgae etc., using the various value streams from our geothermal power plants,” Gudmundsson says.
Renewable energy will remain important to Iceland, however, and its sustainability credentials are a badge of honour for the country. “In Iceland we are very focused on sustainability, we are blessed with an abundance of renewable energy, so we managed to solve all our space heating with either geothermal or electricity and 100% of our electricity is renewable and this is something we are focusing on. We set our eyes on being a leader in sustainability,” Gudmundsson concludes.
