INDIA, FINLAND
TO COOPERATE IN ENERGY, HEALTHCARE, ENVIRONMENT AND SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY
13th
MEETING OF INDO-FINNISH JCM HELD
India
and Finland have decided to cooperate in the fields of energy,
healthcare, environment, information technology as also in the
areas of science & technology and civil aviation. This was
decided in the 13th Meeting of Indo-Finnish Joint Commission
which met here today. The Indian delegation was led by Shri S.N.
Menon, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
and the Finnish delegation was led by Mr. Antti Kuosmanen, Ambassador,
Director General for External Economic Relations, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
The
two sides discussed about the possibilities of long-term cooperation
through joint ventures in the field of hydro-power and bio-mass
energy in which Finland has done remarkably well. In the field
of environment, the two sides expressed that the establishment
of Joint Working Group, the first meeting of which was held on
18 October, 2002 in New Delhi, would help in speeding up cooperation,
the focus of which would be on the forestry and paper and pulp
industries. The Indian side informed that the National Association
of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) was keen to initiate
joint ventures between the two countries in the IT sector. In
the field of science & technology, the Finnish side is considering
to send to India a broad-based fact-finding mission.
The
Finnish side noted that their national carrier Finair has expressed
its desire to have two weekly flights to Mumbai. They also raised
the concerns such as tax on fuel uplifted as well as high landing
and handling fees as disincentives to initiate normal commercial
flights to India upon which the Indian side said that these matters
would be taken up with the concerned authorities.
The
two sides exchanged views on the WTO and agreed on the importance
of successfully concluding the ongoing Doha Development Round
of trade negotiations for the benefit of all WTO members.
