News
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21 November 2019 /Arctic Council actors join forces in Hveragerði
For the first time during the Icelandic Chairmanship, representatives of the eight Arctic States and six Indigenous Permanent Participant organizations, as well as the Arctic Council’s six Working Gro...
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15 November 2019 /S&P Global Ratings affirms Iceland’s sovereign ratings at A/A-1 with a stable outlook
International rating agency S&P Global Ratings has affirmed Iceland’s sovereign ratings at A/A-1 with a stable outlook. The rating agency assumes a mild contraction in GDP in 2019 due to declining...
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15 November 2019 /UN adopts Iceland's proposal to declare International Equal Pay Day
A resolution on International Equal Pay Day was today adopted by consensus in the Third Committee (Human Rights) of the General Assembly. Iceland, Australia, Canada, Germany, Panama, New Zealand, Sout...
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08 November 2019 /Moody's upgrades Iceland's government ratings to A2
Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Iceland’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to A2 from A3, Iceland’s senior unsecured MTN rating to (P)A2 from (P)A3 and other short-term rating to (...
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23 October 2019 /Progress of the plan for removal of Capital Controls
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs today published a report on the progress of plans to remove restrictions on cross-border capital movements and foreign currency trading. The minister shall...
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18 October 2019 /Iceland Calls Financial Action Task Force ‘Grey List’ Decision Unwarranted and Disproportionate
The Government of Iceland disagrees with the decision of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to place the country on its list of jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. The decision is ...
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10 October 2019 /Iceland criticises the Turkish military offensive in Syria
Iceland strongly criticises the Turkish military offensive against Kurds in Northern Syria. This position has been formally communicated to the Turkish authorities. As this military offensive is not i...
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09 October 2019 /First joint meeting between the Arctic Council and the Arctic Economic Council
The Arctic Council and the Arctic Economic Council hold their first joint meeting today in Reykjavik, bringing together government representatives of the eight Arctic States, business representatives,...
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01 October 2019 /Report of the working group on the EEA co-operation has been published
A working group appointed by Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, delivered its report today on Iceland‘s membership of the European Economic Area Agreement. Appoi...
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30 September 2019 /Minister for Foreign Affairs addressed the UN General Assembly
Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, emphasized human rights, reforms in the international system and the urgency of concrete actions against climate change in his addre...
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27 September 2019 /Minutes of the meeting of the Financial Stability Council on 26 September 2019
Meeting held at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs In attendance were: Bjarni Benediktsson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, chairman; Ásgeir Jónsson, Governor of the Central Bank o...
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23 September 2019 /Minister for Foreign Affairs met with allies in the US Congress
Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, met with Members of the United States Congress, National Security Council and the State Department in Washington D.C. last week to d...
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18 September 2019 /Indicators for measuring Well-being in Iceland
The Prime Minister‘s Committee on measurements for Well-being in Iceland has proposed a framework of 39 indicators that cover social, economic and environmental dimensions of quality of life. The...
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16 September 2019 /An International conference on #metoo will start tomorrow
The Prime Minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, opens an international conference on #metoo, starting at 14.30 tomorrow in Harpa and concluding on September 19th. Tomorrow programme includes keynote sp...
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12 September 2019 /First Arctic Council Working Group on Sustainable Development (SDWG) meeting in Iceland concluded
The first meeting of the Sustainable Development Working Group during Iceland’s Arctic Council Chairmanship brought together around 70 participants in Reykjavik and Ísafjörður on 10-12 September, repr...
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10 September 2019 /Thematic Conference on Strengths, Well-Being and Engagement of Youth in the Arctic
A thematic conference on Strengths, Well-Being and Engagement of Youth in the Arctic was held today at the National Museum of Iceland, in Reykjavik, in connection with the meeting of the Arctic ...
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09 September 2019 /Land restoration essential for mitigating the climate crisis - letter of intent signed
On 8 September 2019, Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, and Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Agency (UNEP), signed a le...
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06 September 2019 /Fiscal budget proposal for 2020: Strong investment and tax reductions
Personal income tax lowered — reduction process expedited Payroll tax lowered Strong public investment Transportation strengthened Research strengthened Support for low-incom...
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04 September 2019 /U.S.-Icelandic Business Round Table on the Occasion of the Visit of Vice President Mike Pence to Iceland
Mr. Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, and Mr. Gudlaugur Thór Thórðarson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, led a round table discussion on strengthening commercial, scientific an...
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23 August 2019 /Health Policy. A policy for Iceland´s health services until 2030
Work on drawing up a health policy until 2030 began in the Ministry of Welfare in April 2018. It was based on many surveys and analyses of various aspects of Iceland’s health services made in recent y...