Export saga at the sea

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the stages of country's export saga. The country is an island, Iceland, a remote island in the north. The export saga spans more than a thousand years, from Viking settlement to the present day. The introduction provides an overview, followed by a story about the generation born a few years before World War II and what life was like before and after the start of significant fish exports. Secondly, it discusses the evolution of exports from Iceland in terms of the goods that dominate exports. Thirdly, it analyses whether the nature of exports has changed in response to the significant export opportunities that have opened up to the US and, subsequently, to Europe with the formation of the EU, EFTA and NAFTA. For a long time, the export of goods in the form of fish has been important for Iceland. In this context, two export stories from Iceland can be told. The export of services in the form of tourism has become more important than the export of goods in recent years. This development is in line with the theory that the more a country develops, the more it shifts its exports from goods to services - which is visible in Iceland's exports, as tourism is classified as a service export in the national accounts, the international standard. The country's export story can be seen as a twilight saga in the stormy seas of international development. The methodology used is based on the popular business SWOT analysis, which allows to assess the benefits of exporting over time. This method helps to assess the following factors: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The results of a SWOT analysis depend on the factor being assessed: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities or Threats. The matrix approach to SWOT analysis has been structured to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The method has been highly regarded by business researchers. There are several practical implications, and they relate to all dimensions of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Last but not least, the study includes several factors related to value/originality in the industry, which implies issues that exporters should bear in mind and take into account if they start any international activity in the form of exporting fish cargo to other countries.