 On the second day of the State visit of the Slovenian President to Iceland, Dr Danilo Türk and his Icelandic counterpart Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson opened a Slovenian-Icelandic business conference and addressed businesspeople from the two countries.
In his address President Grímsson stressed the fact that the current globalised economy offers small countries and economies numerous opportunities in areas such as information technology, creative industries, environmental and energy technologies, pharmaceuticals and the financial sector. In particular, he stressed the importance of the renewable energy industry, such as exploitation of water and geothermal energy, with which over the past 40 years Iceland has stopped dependency on imported fossil fuels and has become capable of directing the savings thus obtained into the development of its economy. He also called for joint participation of the two countries on third markets, arguing that Iceland and Slovenia may build extensive synergies and attain rapid results as they are respected and unburdened by history. |
 President Türk presented Slovenia as a successful transition country, which, however, has yet to complete the process of privatisation, to make its economy more competitive and promote its entrepreneurship spirit. He expressed his support for the cooperation of the two countries in the project of building the first geothermal power plant in Slovenia and welcomed the joint participation of the two countries on third markets. Certain parts of Central Europe, he said, have enormous potential in terms of geothermal energy, which may, in the near future, become an important economic factor. He mentioned two very successful and important branches of industry in Slovenia, building and pharmaceuticals, and spoke in particular of the importance of tourism which enables people from the two countries to better know each other and creates a favourable environment for development of cooperation in undertaking of common projects. |
 During the business conference an agreement worth EUR 700,000 was signed between the Slovenian company Duol and the Municipality of Hveragerði for the construction of a 5,000 square metre hall in Hveragerði that will be heated by geothermal energy. In parallel, the Slovenian company Geoeks and the Icelandic company Mannvit signed an agreement of cooperation in the construction of the first geothermal energy plant in Slovenia, to be erected in Dobrovnik. |
 The presidents then visited the University of Iceland. There they met with its rector, Dr Kristín Ingólfsdóttir and participated in a round table entitled "Slovenia in the European Union and in the international community". In his introductory lecture, President Türk focused on the concept and realisation of sovereignty in Slovenia after its accession to the European Union and on the options of smaller countries in international policy, which is particularly relevant for Iceland, which is preparing for negotiations on joining the European Union.
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 President Türk then met with Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland. They discussed the experience of Slovenia in the process of integration into the European Union and the euro zone. They also touched upon issues concerning the consequences of the financial crisis, unemployment and coordination of economic and financial policies under the "European semester" initiative. |
 Dr Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and Dr Danilo Türk also visited the Hellisheiði Geothermal Power Plant, the second largest geothermal power station in the world, and the largest in Iceland. After a short inspection of the plant, the two presidents took part in a discussion on the topic of "Iceland’s prospects in the area of energy and the environment". |
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