Finnish Prime Minister to visit India shortly
PHD Chamber Signs MOU with KUOPIO Chamber, Finland

Finnish Prime Minister, accompanied by a high-powered business delegation would visit India shortly to hold parleys with the Indian Government and business in order to take the growing economic relationship between the two countries to a higher pedestal.

Disclosing this at an interface between the visiting Finnish delegation and members of PHD Chamber today in New Delhi, a senior functionary of the Finnish Embassy in India said that Finland has been giving utmost importance to nurturing the economic relationship with India. Almost all major Finnish corporations have their presence in India such as – Nokia, Kone, Wartsilla, etc. Efforts are underway to bring the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of two countries together. The Finnish delegation included Mr. Jorma Autio, Mayor, City of Nilsia and Mr. Martti Harju, Mayor, City of Lisalmi.

Significantly, to provide a platform for businesses of the two countries to come together, an Mou was signed between PHD Chamber and Kuopio Chamber of Commerce, Finland. The Mou envisages establishing and developing commercial links between the business communities of both the countries. It was signed on behalf of PHD Chamber by its President Mr Sanjay Bhatia and Secretary General Krishan Kalra and on behalf of Kuopio Chamber by Chairman of Board Ossi Sakman and Managing Director Matti Niiranen,

Mr. Seppo Keranen, Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Finland explained the role of FINPRO, which has three offices in India, in promoting tie-ups between the SMEs of the two countries. FINPRO having 57 offices worldwide gives industry specific information about Finland and technology and goods that can be imported from there. He, however, said that the bilateral trade between the two countries hover around Euro 500 million.-Euro 350 million Finnish exports to India and Euro 150 million India’s exports to Finland. Once, more number of SMEs come together from both countries, two-way trade also would go up so also investment, he added.

Referring to the efforts being made by the two countries in promoting tourism in each other’s country, Mr. Keranen said that presently there are 12 weekly direct flights between Delhi and Helsinki and the number of tourists and business travelers between the two countries are going up. Echoing the views, Mr Jorma Autio said that there could be many possibilities for promoting tourism between the two countries. His city-Nilsia- was an ideal tourist spot in both winter and summer. He wanted group tourism from India promoted by deploying more chartered flights between the two countries.

Mr. Martti Harju said that Finland was known for metal industry, paper and pulp, power equipment and electronics and meaningful tie-ups could be possible with Indian enterprises. Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Matti Niiranen, said that Finland was known for hi tech and institutions of higher learning, particularly in medical sciences. India, which also has hallowed institutions of learning and focus on hi tech industries, could immensely enrich from knowledge sharing and joint research.

In his welcome remarks, Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, President, PHD Chamber said that when one talks of Finland one is reminded of lakes and the scenic beauty, what we must also remember is that Finland is technologically one of the most advanced countries in the world. Indo-Finnish relations are old, warm and friendly. With the mobile phone market exploding in India, even though many Indians may not associate it with Finland, everyone knows about Nokia.

There are good opportunities for bilateral cooperation in sectors such as energy and power, power generation, solar and wind energy, health care, environmental technologies, biotechnology, mining and metallurgy, etc, Mr. Bhatia added.