The United States and Iceland held their inaugural Economic Dialogue in Reykjavik, Iceland, on June 7, 2019. The Economic Dialogue was jointly announced by Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson following their meeting in Reykjavik on February 15, 2019.
U.S. Acting Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Manisha Singh led an interagency delegation and co-chaired the meeting with Iceland Director General for External Trade and Economic Affairs Nikulás Hannigan.
The delegations discussed a range of global economic policy issues, with particular focus on protecting critical infrastructure, screening of foreign investment, and strengthening bilateral trade ties. They explored ways to advance women’s economic empowerment globally, and engaged with company representatives to consider approaches for enhancing private sector interaction.
The two sides reaffirmed their ongoing commitment to deepen the U.S.-Iceland economic partnership, and have decided upon the following deliverables:
Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment
Discussions were held for the first time between U.S. and Iceland on women’s economic empowerment. It was decided to establish a working group to reinforce cooperation on promoting women’s economic empowerment in line with the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, a U.S. effort that aims to empower women globally to fulfill their economic potential.
Foreign Investment Screening
It was decided to continue exchanges of information and expertise on foreign investment screening at the expert level.
Protecting Critical Infrastructure
Both sides underscored the need to mitigate risks to global supply chains and the importance of protecting critical infrastructure, including cyber communications networks. The two governments will follow up with information exchanges among subject matter experts.
To continue engagement to deepen economic ties, there will be a meeting in Iceland with officials from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) at the end of June to hold discussions on trade and investment issues.
