A high-level business delegation from Finland led by its Minister for Economic Affairs, Mauri Pekkarinen, is coming here on Wednesday for a two-day intensive deliberation with the Indian industry to explore the possibilities for greater collaboration in the areas of technology improvement and innovation.
Noting that it would be the largest ever Finnish delegation to visit India, with more than 100 participants from about 80 companies, Ambassador of Finland, Terhi Hakala, said the meet was expected to deliver a lot particularly in the areas of software, application of biotechnology and clean technologies for environment and energy industries.
Making a pre-event presentation on the scopes for collaboration between India and Finland, Jorma Routti of the Helsinki University of Technology, said both the countries could benefit a lot through greater cooperation, particularly in an era where knowledge had become a major driving force of economic and social development around the world.
Pointing that international competition has largely become a competition of investment and the most talented people, he noted that India was becoming a major player in research and development and its investments in the area were expected to soon exceed those of the European Union.
During the visit, the Finnish Minister would call on Commerce Minister, Anand Sharma, Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Minister for New and Renewal Energy, Farooq Abdullah, and Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, apart from Science and Technology Minister, Prithviraj Chavan.
In addition, he would participate in a meeting of the India-Finland partnership Forum, where industry leaders of the two countries would share their know-hows and business visions on technology improvements and innovations.
The visit is a follow up to a science and technology agreement signed between the two countries last year, which aimed to increase free movement of companies, academic communities and scholars, along with promotion of joint ventures.
