The OECD has officially announced that a fresh period of economic expansion has begun in Iceland and has projected it to exceed 5% per annum by 2005, as work on the major aluminium-related investment projects gathers momentum. The greenfield investment by Alcoa of $1.1 billion is accompanied by a hydroelectric investment of the same amount. Furthermore, Columbia Ventures Corporation is expected to enlarge its Nordural aluminium smelter in 2004-2005 with estimated cost of about US$ 580 million, including needed energy investment. The new Alcoa smelter is scheduled to start up in 2007 and Columbia Ventures’ expansion to come in operation in 2006. Total labour force needed for the energy construction projects only is estimated to be about 4,200 man-years and 2,200 man-years for the Alcoa aluminium smelter.

The Icelandic company Prokaria has signed a research agreement with the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. Under terms of the agreement the partners will commence a screening program to locate new natural components for food applications. Dr. Jakob Kristjánsson, Prokaria President and CEO, says in a company statement, “This strategic move brings together opportunities for discovery in one of the world's most diverse, extreme ecosystems, involving the world's largest food company. Nestlé has established its position as world leader in the innovative development of food products. We are very excited about working with them on this project and see it as another great step forward for Prokaria in developing its GENEMININGTM discovery services for our corporate customers." Established and based in Reykjavik, Iceland, Prokaria ehf. is a pioneering company in sequence-based discovery and in screening through the natural diversity of extreme environments, using proprietary methods which enable rapid, exceptionally cost-effective prospecting and development. A combination of proprietary ecological enrichment methods and bioinformatics tools gives Prokaria access to over 90% of the rare and uncultivated organisms not exploited by conventional procedures. The company focuses on several multibillion-dollar markets including lab & diagnostics, food & feed, technical enzymes, and chiral synthesis, and has a large number of promising candidates. Prokaria  website