Founding Meeting of the Arctic Economic Council Scheduled

The founding meeting of the AEC will take place Sept. 2-3 in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. The AEC will be an independent body, working to foster sustainable development, including economic growth, environmental protection and social development in the Arctic.

At the last Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Kiruna, Sweden in May 2013, Ministers signed the Kiruna Declaration, which “[recognized] that Arctic economic endeavours are integral to sustainable development for peoples and communities in the region”. They also agreed to establish a Task Force to Facilitate the Creation of a Circumpolar Business Forum.

Consistent with the Task Force’s mandate, the Arctic states and Indigenous Permanent Participant organizations of the Arctic Council have worked together to facilitate the creation of this forum – called the Arctic Economic Council (AEC). The AEC’s founding meeting will take place September 2nd and 3rd in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. Each Arctic state and Permanent Participant organization has named up to three business representatives to attend this initial meeting.

The overall aim of the AEC is to foster sustainable development, including economic growth, environmental protection and social development in the Arctic region.

As an independent body, the AEC will decide on its membership, roles and responsibilities, governance, structure, and activities, while ensuring strong participation from indigenous businesses. It may inform the work of the Arctic Council through the views of business.

The creation of the AEC is a priority initiative during Canada’s Arctic Council chairmanship (2013-2015), which is focused on development for the people of the North. Minister Aglukkaq, the Chair of the Arctic Council, is arranging the founding meeting.

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Further to the “Facilitating the Creation of the Arctic Economic Council” document agreed at the Senior Arctic Officials meeting in Yellowknife, as of August 26, 2014 the following representatives have been named by the Arctic states and Permanent Participants to attend the AEC’s founding meeting:

Canada

Tom Paddon
President and CEO, Baffinland Iron Mines, Ltd.

Lillian Brewster
Vice President Community Relations and Development, ATCO Group

Peter Tapatai
President, Peter’s Expediting Limited

Finland

Ingmar Haga
Managing Director, Agnicio Eagle Finland Ltd.

Rauno Posio
Owner and Marketing Director, Lapland Safaris

Tero Vauraste
CEO and President, Arctia Shipping Ltd.

Iceland

Bjarni Már Gylfason
Economist at Federation of Icelandic Industries

Guðmundur Pétursson
Manager at ÍAV and Chairman of the Icelandic-Arctic Chamber of Commerce

Kingdom of Denmark

Peter Bay Kirkegaard
Senior Advisor, Confederation of Danish Industry

Jan Fritz Hansen
Deputy Director General, Danish Shipowners’ Association

Norway

Charlotte Deemer Strøm
Head of Section, Norwegian Shipowners’ Association

Kristin Krohn Devold
Director General, Norwegian Hospitality Association

Erling Kvadsheim
Director, Environment and Industry Policy, Norwegian Oil and Gas

Russia

Georgy Petrov
Vice-President, Russian Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry

Evgeny Ambrosov
Senior Executive Vice-President, Joint Stock company SOVCOMFLOT

Andrey Shiskin
Vice-President, Rosneft Oil Company

Sweden

Dragan Nerandzic
Chief Technology Officer, Ericsson Canada Ltd.

Frank Hojem
Director, Communications, LKAB

United States

Lori Davey
General Manager, Fairweather, LLC

Bruce Harland
Vice President Business Development, Crowley Marine Services Inc.

Gail Schubert
President and CEO, Bering Straits Native Corporation

Arctic Athabaskan Council

Ed Schultz
Founding Member of AAC

Richard Nerysoo

Aleut International Association

Janet Reiser
Director, Business and Resource Development, Aleut Corporation

Arlene Gundersen
President, AIA Board of Directors

Inuit Circumpolar Council

Tara Sweeney
Executive Vice President, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation

Gwich’in Council International

Ron Daub

RAIPON

Lyubov Peshperova
Vice President of RAIPON for the development of entrepreneurship among the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and far-East of the Russian Federation

Alexey Panov
Entrepreneur, Leading expert in the field of historical-cultural research at the LLC “YuganskNIPI”

Odissey Kutsurov
Official RAIPON representative and language advisor

Saami Council

Anders Blom
Managing Director, Njalla AB

Anders Oskal
Executive Director, International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry