Mumbai, March 7 (IANS). A meeting of the India-Finland delegation was held in the country’s financial capital on Saturday. In this meeting, Dr. Anbalagan P., Secretary, Industries, Energy and Labor Department of Maharashtra said that this discussion is the beginning of a bright future for both the countries. He said that India is fast moving towards becoming a $4 trillion economy and the country’s annual economic growth rate is expected to be around 6.5-7 percent.
He said that the contribution of the industry sector in the total Gross Value Added (GVA) of the country is about 20 percent, while the contribution of the service sector is about 53 percent. Whereas in Maharashtra the contribution of service sector has reached about 63 percent. He said that despite having a strong manufacturing cluster in the state, there is also great strength in the services sector.
Dr. Anbalagan further said that the recent announcement of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and active role of Finland will open new opportunities for cooperation and trade between the two countries. Currently India’s exports to Finland are around $413 million, while imports are around $800 million.
He said that under the new vision these figures need to be at least doubled. In states like Maharashtra, where total exports are around $70 billion, trade figures with Finland are still quite limited, but there is tremendous potential.
During the meeting, discussions were held to increase cooperation in many important areas. These include sectors like digitization, quantum technology, 5G and 6G networks, sustainable development and circular economy.
Dr. Anbalagan told that talks are going on on virgin fiber project with a big Finnish company. Under this project, new fiber will be made from old clothes or textile waste. This project can be established in the eastern part of Maharashtra with an investment of about 1.5 billion dollars.
Along with this, FICCI Economist Forum Co-Chair Sachchidanand Shukla said in the program that major progress has been made towards an important agreement between India and Europe in January. He said that after long-running negotiations, trade cooperation between India and Europe is now entering a new phase.
He said that this agreement will create a huge economic network involving a market of about 2 billion people, about 25 percent of the global GDP and a trade of about 24 trillion dollars.
Furthermore, Finland’s Employment Minister Mattias Marttinen said that India’s economic progress in the last 15 years has been impressive and the Government of Finland appreciates this achievement of India. He expressed hope that the partnership between India and Finland will become stronger in the times to come.
Mattias Martinen said that recently a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) related to mobility has also been signed between the two countries, which will start a new chapter in the relations between the two countries.
He said that areas like skills, industry, employment, trade and technology cannot be seen separately. Only by increasing cooperation in all these areas, the relations between India and Finland will become stronger in future.
Marttinen further said that India and Finland have been good friends for a long time and several important agreements signed between the two countries during his visit are expected to further deepen cooperation in the areas of technology, trade, skill development and industry in the coming years.
–IANS
DBP/