Abu Dhabi - WAM
President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson of Iceland has lauded the key role the UAE has been playing in the global clean energy scene.In a lecture he gave Wednesday at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), President Grimsson said he was pleased to learn about UAE's experiment and achievements in the fields of clean energy.The lecture was attended by Dr. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi, Director General of the ECSSR, officials, and diplomats.President Grimsson spoke about his country's economic situation during the 2008 global financial crisis, saying the economy at that time was at the brinks of collapse."Our country has recovered now, thanks to the approach of investing in clean energy to boost national economy," he added.Olafur Ragnar Grimsson is the fifth President of the Republic of Iceland. He earned his BA degree in Economics and Political Science at the University of Manchester in 1965 and completed his Ph.D. in Political Science at the same university in 1970, becoming the first Icelander to earn a doctorate in this discipline. He was appointed a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Iceland in 1970.He joined the parliament as a deputy member in 1974 and 1975.Among many international awards he has received is the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of ?s (Norway) in 1997 and Manchester in 2001.He authored a large number of academic articles that have appeared in both Icelandic and overseas periodicals.