The Central Bank of Iceland has introduced the Investment Programme where parties intending to invest in Iceland and sell foreign currency at at domestic financial institutions are permitted to participate in the Central Bank‘s foreign exchange auctions for the same amount, provided the funds will be used for long-term domestic investment.

Transparent administration and clear and unambiguous regulation concerning foreign direct investment in Iceland is among the goals set by a new Government proposal for a parliamentary resolution on foreign investment. The proposal acknowledges that investment is paramount for economic growth in Iceland.

According to the World Bank international study "Doing Business 2012" Iceland now ranks number 9 of the world's most business-friendly economies, up from 13th place last year.

The fifth stage of Reykjavik Energy's Hellisheidi Geothermal powerstation is now operational and producing 90 MW of clean energy.

Datapipe, committed to being a global leader in sustainable IT, will utilise Iceland's low-latency, subsea connectivity and location between the world's largest financial markets in the world, London and New York, to deliver carbon neutral managed IT solutions.

Verne Global is installing a 500m² modular data centre from Colt DCS to prepare for the opening of the world's first large scale emission free data centre at Asbru, Iceland.

Einstök is Icelandic for Unique and that is what the latest Icelandic craft beer is according entrepreneurs Jack Sichterman, Bernard LaBorie and David Altshuler. Being brewed in Iceland, just south of the arctic circle Einstök has natural links to purity and beauty.

Turner Broadcasting System Europe has announced its acquisition of the Icelandic company which owns and operates the LazyTown brand. TBS is committed to produce a new series in Iceland under the same management team.

More sustainable economic situation and competitive strengths such as the educational system, innovative business sector, flexible labour market and developed infrastructure move Iceland up on place in World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012.

Geogreenhouse is preparing to construct high tech greenhouses close to a geothermal power plant and using green electricity, geothermal water, CO2 and the purest cold water to produce a range of premium quality tomatoes with zero carbon footprint and pesticide free. UK will be the main market.

The Iceland Chamber of Commerce has published an updated version of the Status Report on the Icelandic Economic Situation. The report is meant to give a better insight into the chain of events and the current economic, business and political landscape in Iceland. Despite substantial difficulties, general economic activity is still well functional and many Icelandic businesses remain strong and prosperous.

Cloud service provider SecurStore has entered into a relationship with Rackspace Cloud Builders, the service leader in cloud computing, and the OpenStack™ open source cloud operating system.

Emerald Atlantis Limited and TE SubCom have announced the finalization of an Instruction to Proceed to build the Emerald Express Trans-Atlantic Cable System. The first phase will provide both low-latency and ultra-high bandwidth capacity between the US, Canada, UK and Iceland, requiring 5,200km of advanced submarine fibre optic cable.

The Icelandic Geothermal Cluster was formally founded on June 28th 2011 and launched with an inspiring address about the endless possibilities by guest of honour, Professor Michael Porter, who led the mapping of the cluster and Iceland's competitive advantage in geothermal research and utilisation.

Over 100 Danish minkfarmers attended a meeting in Jutland where they learned about possibilities for minkfarming in Iceland. A large group of Danish minkfarmers are preparing a study tour to Iceland this autumn and one Danish couple has already settled there and built up a successful minkfarm.

The big budget movie Promethius, directed by Ridley Scott, will be partly filmed in Iceland next month.

Iceland is the world's most peaceful country according to the Global Peace Index 2011. There is minimum risk is almost all categories, including the one addressing the degree to which political instituions are sufficiently stable to support the needs of its citizens, businesses and overseas investors.

The eruption in Grímsvötn has ended. Volcanic tremor rapidly decreased before the weekend and disappeared Saturday morning. Monday 30 May, it has been confirmed by the participants of Iceland Glaciological Society's spring expedition that the eruption has ended. The end of the Grímsvötn eruption is set to 7 UTC Saturday morning 28 May 2011.

A group of foreign investors, led by projectleader and coordinator Håkan Ydner from Sweden, are investing in a EUR 10 million project to build a new 4-star hotel in the South of Iceland. The hotel is designed to merge with the surrounding spectacular nature and will also leave minimum carbon footprint. The local energy sources at Leirubakki will be used for heating and warm water.

Gogogic has teamed up with Big Fish Games, the leading publisher, developer and distributor of casual and iOS games, to publish a new action-adventure puzzler for the iOS platform.

A new three year national wage contract has been signed by the social parnters. The Government of Iceland issued a statement on this occasion saying that the agreement is imperative to the continuation of the recovery of the Icelandic economy: "The Government consider stability in the labour market as essential to creating an environment conducive to economic growth".

Un updated version of Invest in Iceland's publication "Doing Business in Iceland" is now available online. A hardcopy version is in the print. Doing Business in Iceland is a detailed booklet written by Invest in Iceland and major accounting firms in Iceland, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Directorate, the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, The Ministry of Economic Affairs, and other bodies. Please browse these pages for a quick overview of:

Foreign investors hold 23% of the shares in Icelandic MP bank after a group of foreign and domestic investors acquired all domestic and Lithuanian operations of the bank. Among the investors are Joseph C. Lewis, owner of Tavistock Group and The Rowland family who  bought Kaupthing Bank in Lusembourg in 2009. The investors brought 5.5 billion ISK in equity into the company and lifted the CAD ratio to 24%, well above the minimum requirements of the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority.

The Iceland Chamber of Commerce has published a new Status Report on the Icelandic Economic Situation. The report is meant to give a better insight into the chain of events and the current economic, business and political landscape in Iceland. Despite substantial difficulties, general economic activity is still well functional and many Icelandic businesses remain strong and prosperous. The Iceland Chamber of Commerce has from the Banking collapse published this status report regularly with particular focus on the latest developments and information on the economic climate. The current edition from April 2011 is the 13th since October 2008.

The government of Iceland has issued a statement on the outcome of the national referendum on the Icesave agreements. One of the most important issues concerns the payments to the British and Dutch authorities: "The outcome of the referendum will not affect the commencement of payments by the estate of  Landsbanki Íslands hf. to priority claimants (including the British and Dutch authorities), where partial payments are scheduled to take place later this year. These partial payments are expected to cover close to a third of priority (depositor) claims. Moreover, latest figures on its assets indicate that the estate will be able to pay over 90% of claims for deposits."

The EFTA Surveillance Authority has approved an Icelandic scheme for innovation companies. The objective of the scheme is to improve and foster research and development.

GreenQloud, the Icelandic company that operates the world's first environmentally-friendly public compute cloud, powered only by renewable energy sources, is one of Europe's top 25 rising stars in cloud computing according to CloudTweaks.com.

The Icelandic Silicon Corporation, the ministers of industry and finance and the mayor of Reykjanesbaer have signed investment agreements on the construction of new Silicon-Metal Facility in Iceland. The investment agreements are based on a new framework legislation on incentives for foreign direct investment in Iceland.

Iceland leads the world in addressing pollution control and natural resource management challenges, according to the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) produced by a team of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University. This is the third edition of the EPI, which has been revisited biannually since 2006.

Global Geothermal has signed an exclusive MOU with the city of Husavik in Iceland, to acquire, refurbish, maintain and operate the 2MW Kalina cycle plant in Husavik. The Husavik was the first and only example of a Kalina Cycle geothermal plant, prior to the commissioning of two plants by Siemens in Germany in 2009.