NOK 2 million grant for concert

46664 Arctic Board Chairman Anne Marit Bjørnflaten is extremely pleased with the decision to allocate these funds.

"This means the committee strongly believes that we can create a unique event in Tromsø," she said.

The funding application focused on the fact that 46664 Arctic will contribute to increasing the skills of both technical and administrative expertise concerning the planning and execution of large-scale international events. This will particularly concern Troms County, but also to a great extent suppliers and partners locally and on a regional level. In this respect, we have a unique opportunity to develop a professional community consisting of people with experience, knowledge and cutting-edge expertise.

The 46664 Arctic event will be Northern Norway's largest event ever, in terms of both size and importance. As well as putting the problem of HIV/AIDS on the international agenda, the event also has an enormous marketing value that will contributing to putting Northern Norway on the international map.

The RDA funding programme compensates for the increased payroll tax that came into effect on January 1, 2004. The increase in the payroll tax level is from 5.1 percent in our region to 14.1 percent for the country as a whole. The increase is staggered over a three-year period. RDA funds can be granted to support local business and development projects.