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Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Finland, Ville Tavio during his New Delhi visit hailed the growth trajectory of India and said that he welcomes Finnish companies to invest in India.
On global supply chain disruption and on how he sees India as a market, the minister underlined that it is important to create a strong supply network together and that "there are signs of protectionism". "As the global trade keeps on going, we do see signs of protectionism in terms that could also disrupt the supply chains because everyone wants to secure their own businesses, their own supply. It's not very realistic to do everything by ourselves. So whether it's Europe or it's India, I think it's better to create a strong supply network together," said the minister during a press interaction. "India's huge growth creates opportunities for companies to invest in India. I welcome Finnish companies to look for possibilities in India. And likewise, we have many good Indian companies also operating in Finland and in Europe. So I can see the trade going better," he added. Minister Tavio is in India with a Finnish business delegation. He met with Indian ministers and business representatives and attended the India Nordic-Baltic Business Conclave on November 22. During his visit, Minister Tavio also had a bilateral meeting with India's Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. Giving details about his meeting, the minister highlighted the ongoing Free Trade agreement between the EU and India and said that as a Finnish representative, he would urge both to keep the process going. "We have quite a good understanding that we need more trade. In that manner, I may raise the ongoing discussions of India and European Union Free Trade Agreement and those would be mutually beneficial if they would succeed," the minister said. "So, as a representative of Finland, I urge both the EU and India to keep the process going and to find the solutions because it would be so good for the trade and to have this in global times of different crisis and economic difficulties. I think it would be important to secure our supply chains and have a variety of producers and also the trust that tech companies can work together and I think Finnish tech is very reliable," he added. Speaking about the trade relationship between the two countries, the minister said there is a lot of potential between the two countries. "We have a good trade going on already between Finland and India. We see lots of potential in growing that trade. Finland is happy to work with India. We already have some big companies of ours who are well established here," the minister said. The business delegation led by Minister Tavio consists of several Finnish companies. Some aim to increase their current market share and drive growth, while others seek new markets and internationalisation in India. The members of the business delegation operate in the energy, construction, circular economy, ICT and quantum sectors. "India is a huge, rapidly growing market, and Finnish leading-edge expertise can respond to its development needs excellently. Partnerships in important themes, such as digitalisation and sustainability, offer significant growth potential for Finnish companies that will seize the opportunity," Minister Tavio said before commencing his India visit. Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West), Sanjay Verma, co-chaired the India-Finland 12th Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) in New Delhi. As per the MEA press statement, the Permanent State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Finland, Jukka Salovarra led the Finnish delegation. During the FOC, both sides reviewed the bilateral relations between both nations, including political engagements, trade and investments, education, digital partnerships, sustainability partnerships, mobility, cultural relations and people-to-people contacts. (ANI)
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