Foreign Ministry and IACN Renew Cooperation Agreement
On Friday, 18 September, Minister for Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir visited Borgir, where a renewed 5-year cooperation agreement between the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network (IACN) and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was formally signed.
Strengthens Akureyri’s Role as Iceland’s Arctic Centre
The agreement was signed by Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir and Embla Eir Oddsdóttir, Director of the Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network. Also in attendance were Elín Díanna Gunnarsdóttir, Vice-Rector of the University of Akureyri, and Hlynur Guðjónsson, Iceland’s Senior Arctic Official to the Arctic Council.
To mark the signing of the agreement, IACN hosted a reception for Arctic partners and stakeholders. The Minister addressed the reception, and in her remarks she emphasized the importance of IACN and the value of strong collaboration and knowledge-building in Arctic affairs, which are increasingly prominent on the international agenda. She also highlighted the significance of the Arctic institutions in Akureyri and their contribution to establishing Akureyri as a recognized centre of Arctic matters in Iceland.
The Minister concluded by expressing her gratitude to the University of Akureyri, CAFF, PAME, the Stefansson Arctic Institute, the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), the Municipality of Akureyri, IACN, and other partners in Akureyri for their leadership in Arctic matters, as well as for their fruitful cooperation with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ press release is available [here]