Mads Qvist Frederiksen announced as new Director of Arctic Economic Council
Mads Qvist Frederiksen comes from the position as senior advisor in the Confederation of Danish Industry
The Arctic Economic Council (AEC) says it has searched across the Arctic for a new director to lead the ship forward. Mads Qvist Frederiksen from Denmark is hired to do the job.
This year the AEC celebrates six years of facilitating sustainable business development in the Arctic. Now the organization is looking forward to a new year of Arctic collaboration and development with a new director in place.
– The AEC symbolises the best of the Arctic. It is cooperation across large distances and different languages. It is the huge potential of a young organisation that I look forward to being at the helm of, says the newly hired director Mads Qvist Frederiksen.
Mads Qvist Frederiksen comes from the position as senior advisor in the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), where he had the responsibility for Arctic affairs. He knows the Arctic Economic Council well, both as a representative from Denmark in the AEC and as member of the AEC Investments and Infrastructure Working Group.
– My passion for the Arctic began with a voyage in 2005 when I sailed from Iceland to Greenland and then onto Canada on an expedition with Justin Trudeau. Since then I have been working with business development in all Arctic nations, says Mads Qvist Frederiksen.
He will move to Tromsø, Norway, in the beginning of 2021 and take over the job after Anu Fredrikson, who has moved on to another Arctic position.
The Arctic Economic Council (AEC) is a business forum established to facilitate Arctic business-to-business activities, promote responsible economic development and provide a circumpolar business perspective to the work of the Arctic Council. The AEC’s active organizations include a diverse collection of business industries that operate in the region: from start-ups and SMEs to indigenous and multinational corporations. The Icelandic business community holds the Chairmanship of the AEC from 2019 to 2021.
– We are excited about announcing Mads Qvist Frederiksen as the new AEC director. We strive for sustainable development in the Arctic and we think Mads has both the Arctic mindset this position requires and the qualifications needed to lead the AEC office forward, says Chair of the AEC, Heidar Gudjonsson.