The prime ministers' Punkaharju Declaration of summer 2007 set a new tone in Nordic co-operation, presenting a vision of the future in which the Nordic Region's responses to the challenges of globalisation would be implemented. Within a short period of time, mechanisms of official co-operation have been changed to enable the Nordic Region to make a greater impact and give it greater potential to exploit the opportunities presented by globalisation. The competitive environment has undergone fundamental change. The idea of the global village has long since become a reality - people, goods and capital move freely across national borders and between continents, stimulating trade and educational and cultural interchange. Iceland attaches great importance to follow-up on the prime ministers' globalisation policy and the projects launched over the last two years under the Finnish and Swedish presidencies.