Iceland Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in iceland, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Iceland is party to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.  On the national level, most procurement is the responsibility of Rikiskaup Central Public Procurement, an agency of the Icelandic Government.  As an EEA member, Iceland is obligated to follow EU procurement practices, which require that any public procurement more than a certain price limit must be tendered for competitive bidding through EU procedures.  Accordingly, Icelandic tenders are posted on the Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) website of the EU.  The main difficulty with the public tender process is that the bid deadline is often very short, which gives prospective U.S. bidders little time to respond, particularly if tender documents need to be translated from Icelandic.  Additional material on State tenders can be obtained from the Rikiskaup website, but it is not always available in English.

Potential opportunities for American investors include the Keflavik International Airport expansion project, the new national hospital, and renewable energy equipment.  Isavia, a public company that handles the operation and development of Keflavik International Airport, has embarked on $1-2 billion capital works project to expand and improve the airport.  Projects include extension of buildings, baggage screening and baggage handling systems, self-check in stations, waiting areas and retail/dining areas, check-in areas, bag-drop off areas, security areas, airbridges/gates for remote stands, re-modelling of existing terminal, de-icing platforms, new runway, new taxiway, and a new ATC tower.  For more information, please visit Isavia’s website.  A new national hospital is being raised currently, and the project will include construction of the building and securing new equipment.  Almost all of Iceland’s electricity is produced in hydroelectric and geothermal power plants.  There are three main electricity producers:  Landsvirkjun, which is state-owned; Reykjavík Energy, owned by three municipalities; and HS Energy, owned by local municipalities and private investors.  There is a nascent wind power sector and some interest in developing solar power, especially for off-grid uses.

U.S. companies bidding on foreign government tenders may also qualify for U.S. Government advocacy.  Within the U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration, the Advocacy Center coordinates U.S. Government interagency advocacy efforts on behalf of U.S. exporters in competition with foreign firms in foreign government projects or procurement opportunities.  The Advocacy Center works closely with our network of the U.S. Commercial Service worldwide and inter-agency partners to ensure that exporters of U.S. products and services have the best possible chance of winning government contracts.  Advocacy assistance can take many forms but often involves the U.S. Embassy or other U.S. Government agency officials expressing support for the U.S. exporters directly to the foreign government.  Consult the Advocacy Center’s program web page on trade.gov for additional information.

Financing of Projects

Icelandic pension funds are major investors in Iceland.  Iceland’s three commercial banks, Landsbankinn, Islandsbanki, and Arion Bank finance various commercial projects.  All companies have access to regular commercial banking services in Iceland.

 


 

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

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The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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