Iceland is “baffled” by Chinese investor Huang Nubo’s plans to lease the piece of land Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum in Northeast Iceland, according to an article featured on nytimes.com on Friday.
Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum. Photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.
“Struggling to stand upright against a howling wind, Bragi Benediktsson looked out over his family’s land—a barren expanse of snow and ice that a Chinese billionaire wants to turn into a golf course—and laughed. ‘Golf here is difficult,’ said Mr. Benediktsson, a 75-year-old sheep farmer,” the article begins.
The article also quotes Minister of the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson and Minister for Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphéðinsson as questioning the real purpose of the lease.
“It never seemed a very convincing business plan,” Ögmundur said. “One has to look at this from a geopolitical perspective and ask about motivations.”
According to the article, after having had his initial applications rejected, Huang is now “counting on the prospect that elections in Iceland next month will lead to a new, and perhaps more welcoming, government.”
Related:
12.03.2013 | NYT Publishes Op-Ed on Chinese Interest in Iceland
28.01.2013 | Minister to Limit Foreign Ownership of Properties in Iceland
03.12.2012 | Huang: No Plans to Withdraw Land Application
ZR
