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Competing with Confidence |
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Archives -
2007 Archive
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Written by B. Tyril
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Monday, 21 May 2007 |
Combine a new generation of Faroese business managers with the impact of globalization and new technology, and you may find that alternatives — or complements — to seafood exports could be about to… develop.
With the overwhelming part of all exports from the Faroe Islands consisting of marine products, there is little room for division on whether there is a need for greater diversification: it’s an argument that will mostly center on the related hows, whys and what-ifs. A favorite subject of debate through decades since World War II, the issue appears to surge in waves relative to major developments and their perceived potential to impact on the current balance.
The current consensus in Faroe is that there’s a whole world of difference between now and say, two decades ago, in the outlook for exports. Not that dependency on seafood has decreased, or that competition has eased, on the contrary. But preconditions have changed, quite radically: Resulting from a growing trend of global integration and the onward march of information and communication technology (ICT), ages worth of change are setting in at breakneck speed to affect the business environment of virtually every organization.
Ventures in aquaculture, stalling more than a decade ago to undergo tough purging and consolidation, are finally back on track. Chiefly focusing on farming Atlantic salmon and salmon trout, aquaculture has historically been seen as a natural extension of fishing.
Back in the heady 1980s, who would have found it likely that, for instance, Faroese Telecom twenty years on would be negotiating digital deals in North Sea oil, leaving Icelandic competition in the dust? Icelandic, not UK or Danish, or Norwegian — the key here is size and speed; it’s about retaining the ability to gain profits on markets traditionally ignored by the big boys, combining swiftness in decision making with lightweight operations, coupling smallness and technological know-how with sufficient financial fitness for competitive edge.
Much of this appears to be exactly what the Icelanders have learned to master. Now it could be Faroe’s turn.
So while Iceland and Faroe have remarkably much in common, some distinct characteristics remain on each side. For instance, some maintain that, for some reason, the average Faroese is traditionally a little less self confident than the average cousin to the northwest. Well, for one thing, with increasing economic and cultural integration between the two countries, that could be about to change; for another, the Faroese are likewise known for some other, slightly more quiet, qualities — qualities whose international business value just might be inching upward. Or so the hope goes. It goes without saying that there is much to be gained from the mutual exchange of knowledge between nations. For the Faroes, the closest neighbors are Scotland, Iceland, and Norway; and, in another sense, Greenland and Denmark, co-members of the kingdom of Denmark; Greenland is likewise a co-member of the family of small populations known as the ‘endangered species’ of fishing and hunting people.
Meanwhile, Faroese companies are taking their products and services to a global marketplace. One example, Formula International — a new venture set up by Faroese Telecom, the Eik Fund, TF Holding, and Formula.fo — recently purchased Munk IT, one of Denmark’s largest and most successful Microsoft Gold Partners on Dynamics NAV and Microsoft C5, in a deal worth 100 million dkk (13.4m eur / 9.1m gbp). As to maritime industries, it goes without saying that the Faroese have a natural strength here that is hard to match. The success of Thor within the seismic sector is a case in point, as is that of oil independent Atlantic Petroleum, now holding more than twenty exploration and development licenses in UK, Ireland and Faroe waters. The Eik Bank, Atlantic’s financial advisers in connection with their listing on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Reykjavík and Copenhagen, owns two highly successful financial services enterprises in Denmark and is now the largest shareholder in Iceland’s savings bank Spron.
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