Icelandic Minister of Industries and Innovation Steingrímur J. Sigfússon and Minister of Finance Katrín Júlíusdóttir visited the Faroe Islands this week to thank Faroese authorities for their act of friendship as being the first nation to grand Iceland a loan after the 2008 banking collapse.

From the meeting. Photo: Ministry of Industries and Innovation.

The ministers were given a warm welcome and taken on a tour of the islands. At Kirkjubær, a location of historical significance to the Faroese, Katrín and Steingrímur thanked the Faroese nation for proving a true friend to Iceland, visir.is reports.

“Now we know for sure who our best friends are. Number one is the Faroe Islands. Number two is Poland,” stated Steingrímur before proposing a toast.

Poland was the second nation to grant Iceland a loan. The Faroese loan was granted without any conditions and Iceland repaid it before last Christmas.

A declaration of intent was signed at a conference in Faroese capital Tórshavn on reinforcing collaboration between the neighboring nations, especially in the fields of energy and innovation.

It was decided to look into the feasibility of laying a marine cable to transmit electricity between the two countries, “and buy energy from Iceland so that we can electrify the community instead of using oil,” explained Faroese Employment Minister Johan Dahl.

“We use approximately 250,000 tons of oil in the Faroe Islands, which compares to around 25 percent of our export revenue being used only for buying oil,” Dahl added in an interview with Stöð 2.

The conference was organized by the authorities of the two countries and the Faroese-Icelandic Trade Council.

Related:

29.12.2012 | Loan from Faroe Islands Paid in Full

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