India has initiated a host of reforms, including Goods and Services Tax (GST) and simplification of registration process for firms, but there are still some concerns which the government needs to address, said Finnish Ambassador in New Delhi, Nina Vaskunlahti.
“Decisions have been taken to ease the doing of business,” she said. “The registration process is simpler. GST is one example, though its implementation is a bit cumbersome. In the long term, it’s beneficial as it makes India a single market, Ambassador Vaskunlahti told The Hindu.
“During the last few years, the current Indian government has also repealed over thousand pieces of legislation that were considered an impediment for making business. So, yes, steps have been taken, but at the same time we see some protectionist tendencies. For instance, increasing customs tariffs on certain components needed in producing digital equipment, and there’s also a bit unclarity on when you have to pay the GST, before exporting or after importing. So, there are issues that need to be addressed, but all in all things are on track,” she added.
Asked whether there was a marked rise in investment by Finnish companies in India since the government unveiled the Make in India campaign, she said, “We just conducted a survey among Finnish companies in India. Over 60% of Finnish companies are planning to increase their investment. At the same time, 33% of the companies say that they find challenges in the Indian market. Challenges such as bureaucracy, unclear taxation rules, corruption, rigidity in decision making.”
The government is aware that it’s good to have a slogan like Make in India but you have to make conditions for people to come here and make investments, she said.
She said these issues were mentioned to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he met Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila at the recent Indo-Nordic summit in Stockholm.
‘Many challenges’
“Yes Finnish companies are interested in the Indian market, yes there are opportunities, but still there are challenges that need to be addressed by the government. As we usually say the Prime Ministers, politicians and ambassadors don’t make businesses. We contribute to the conditions that would contribute to making doing business easier.”
During the summit, Mr. Modi had met leaders from all five Nordic countries — Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland.
Ambassador Vaskunlahti said the summit showed the growing importance of cooperation between India and the Nordic region.
The PMs also had bilateral meetings in addition to the summit.
“So, we had an opportunity to discuss trade, say no to protectionism and emphasise on a rules-based international order. It gave an opportunity to PM Modi to hear what the Nordic countries have to offer in areas of innovation, education, energy, technologies, and how the Nordic countries can contribute to the development and modernisation of India.”
“India is an important global player. Therefore, it’s important for us to get together. We also talked about issues of mutual concern such as terrorism, cyberthreat and how we can address these issues together,” she said.
“In today’s world, everybody is needed. And, Finland and India share the same values about democracy and diversity.”
On the India-EU free trade agreement talks, Ambassador Vaskunlahti said both sides had identified complicated issues such as agricultural products, intellectual property rights, automobile parts and alcohol and were determined to address the differences.
“There have not been much progress on the issue, but certainly there’s a push from both sides to find a common ground and move forward to clinch a trade agreement,” she said.
