With a diplomatic relationship stretching over seven decades, India and Finland have continued to grow their friendship and bilateral ties. Collaboration in research and innovation and investments by both sides have only strengthened the bond further, with both countries seeking to expand their trade and business footprint in terms of products and technologies. Kimmo Siira, Counsellor-Trade and Investments, Embassy of Finland, New Delhi, elaborates further in conversation with SHRIYAL SETHUMADHAVAN.

How has the Embassy of Finland been supporting Finnish companies to come to India and contribute to this industry?
The biggest service we can do is to save time for the company - be it by doing intensive market research, seeking out potential partners and stakeholders, or through finding the best suited ways for market access. I was an energy project developer before I joined the government. So, I have been with the private sector. And usually, the pre-development phase takes quite a long time. Not all the companies can afford it and can do it around the world. In my job, we talk to the governments, make sure the basic trade infrastructure is there at the state level and then we start discussing to understand more clearly what is going on before companies’ can enter the market. For example, we talk a lot with state development corporations, ministers, secretaries of energy in different states, business associations and so on and so forth. We are an information business more than anything else.

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