News / SIC leadership heading to Faroe for talks
SHETLAND Islands Council’s leadership team is heading to the Faroe Islands this week for talks – the first formal delegation to make the trip in five years.
Council convener Malcolm Bell, leader Gary Robinson and chief executive Mark Boden are making the journey to discuss a number of topics including governance, transport, elderly care, broadband and the challenges of delivering services in remote and island communities.
The trio will meet Faroe’s Prime Minister Aksel Johannesen along with its minister for foreign affairs and trade and the Faroese Parliament’s chairman, along with transport and telecom operators.
Earlier this month Faroese Telecom said it was keen to bring its world-renowned mobile phone network to Shetland and Orkney to help improve patchy coverage.
Isles politicians have also long admired other aspects of how the 50,000-strong archipelago runs its affairs, with a fact-finding visit in 2007 looking into the use of tunnels to connect its islands rather than shelling out on costly to run ferries.
Faroe is an autonomous country under the control of Denmark.
Bell said: “I’m extremely pleased that we’ve been able to take advantage of the Faroese government’s very kind and timely invitation to visit and meet with their leadership and other community leaders.
“Future transport links will obviously be on our agenda, but there are a significant number of important subjects which are of common interest to ourselves and the Faroese, and we’re looking forward to wide-ranging discussions with ministers, officials and others.
“I am particularly interested to see at first hand the Faroese governance model and how they link and interact with local communities. There has been a number of meetings between ourselves and our island neighbours down the years. However, the last formal visit to Faroe took place in 2011.”
Johannesen said he was “very much looking forward” to welcoming the Shetland delegation – the first to make the trip since the last set of council elections in 2012.
“Faroe Islands and Shetland share a long and strong history,” he said. “Being two small island communities, we have several common challenges that I look forward to discussing.”
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