The British Ambassador to Iceland Dr. Bryony Mathew, together with a beautiful group, visited Matís on the 10th of May. It was accompanied by representatives of the Grimsby Seafood Cluster, the Humber Institute, the Grimsby Fish Mecharnt Association and the University of Lincoln's National Center for Food Manufacturing. Representatives of the Agricultural University and the Farmers' Association were also invited to the meeting.
The aim of the visit was to discuss possible co-operation between companies and institutions in both countries in the field of food production and related industries. The Grimsby and Humber area is the cradle of fisheries in the UK and the University of Lincoln is one of the leading institutions in that country in the field of research and innovation in agriculture and food processing.
The United Kingdom, and in particular the Grimsby area, has for centuries been dependent on imports of fish from Icelandic waters, and at the same time the area has played a major role in the export of seafood from Iceland. The long and successful co-operation between the nations is of great importance to the countries' authorities, and they see an opportunity in fostering further co-operation on a broad basis. Therefore, the governments of the countries have signed declaration of intent on increased co-operation in the field of fisheries. Among the issues discussed at the meeting were opportunities and challenges in following up on the declaration of intent.
Lincoln University operates a kind of "technical park"For research and development of food. The technology park has an extremely strong infrastructure and expertise in most areas of food production. In this connection, we can mention, for example, automation (robotics) in agriculture and other food processing. The meeting created an extremely good discussion between the participants, which will no doubt be followed up in the coming months.
We thank Dr. Bryony Mathew and his entourage warmly welcome.