India, Finland join hands to boost mutual ties in IT, renewable energy

New Delhi, November 25: India and Finland joined hands to boost mutual ties in the areas of trade and investment, renewable energy and science and technology. Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Finnish counterpart held talks in New Delhi to discuss upon strengthening mutual relations. 

“The two ministers held discussions on various aspects of bilateral ties as well as important regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

 

The two ministers reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and agreed to ramp up cooperation in trade. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Swaraj and Soini agreed to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, IT, new and renewable energy, science and technology, culture and people-to-people contact.

“The two countries enjoy traditionally warm and friendly relations since diplomatic relations were established in 1949,” he tweeted. India’s annual trade with Finland has crossed $1 billion. In 2016, Finland was India’s 60th largest trading partner globally and the 10th largest within the EU.

It said that the discussions between the two Ministers focused on building cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, vocational education, science and technology, renewable energy, culture and tourism.

India’s trade with Finland has crossed $1 billion and is in favour of the Nordic country. Finnish companies have invested $419 million in India between April 2000 and July 2017, while around 30 Indian companies have invested in Finland in IT, healthcare, hospitality and automotive sectors. Later Soini also participated in the two-day Fifth Global Conference on Cyber Space that concluded on Friday.