Chinese millionaire wants to buy a part of Iceland

Publisher
ČTK
19.11.2011 19:05
(Iceland) - One of the richest Chinese, Huang Nubo, intends to build a huge resort in Iceland. He plans to purchase three-tenths of a percent of the island's territory, which would be welcomed by the collapsed local economy. However, many Icelandic personalities, according to the AP agency, are not pleased; they see it more as an attempt by Beijing to get closer to the strategic route opening up beyond the Arctic Circle due to melting glaciers.

    Fifty-five-year-old Huang was previously in the highest Chinese government circles, and Forbes magazine ranked him 129th on the list of the richest Chinese this year. His estimated wealth is $890 million (16.8 billion crowns).
    Huang has expressed interest in buying 300 square kilometers of land for one billion Icelandic crowns (166 million crowns), which is 0.3 percent of Iceland's territory. However, the contract has been postponed for now because the Ministry of the Interior has written to the billionaire asking for the reason for his interest. Huang's communist past raises suspicion. His intentions may not be purely driven by a love for nature and tourism, as he claims.
    He worked in the propaganda department of the Ministry of Construction and founded his company Chung-Khun after leaving the ministry in 1995. He is an avid mountaineer and adamantly rejects the notion that he secretly aims to help China get closer to the Arctic.
    He claims to be interested in land in northeastern Iceland solely to create an exceptional resort in nature. He believes he would attract 10,000 visitors each year. They would reach the northern Icelandic city of Akureyri with a three-quarters of an hour flight from Reykjavik and could either continue by air or by road. The first phase of his project could be completed by 2015.
    After the banking collapse in 2008, the Icelandic government certainly needs money. However, Icelanders are hesitant to share their natural resources with foreigners.
    The most famous of them, singer Björk, recently began a campaign against the Canadian company Magma Energy, which is interested in purchasing an Icelandic geothermal energy company. A movement then emerged calling for a vote on the privatization of natural resources. Local entrepreneurs say that while Iceland needs money, they are selling too cheaply in the current crisis situation.
    Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir welcomes Huang's investment plans, as well as the job opportunities that it would create. Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson, however, wants to investigate the ecological and other aspects of Huang's project.
    Halldór Jóhannsson, who represents Huang in Iceland, claims that ordinary Icelanders have begun to realize the value of Iceland's "emptiness and space." They are more bothered by the fact that Huang is a foreigner. "Most of them approve of the plan and wish for the deal to be finalized. They are aware of the economic impact and the help it can bring to people who have been waiting for it for several years," he said.
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