New Delhi: Finland Minister of Education and Culture Petri Honkonen called on Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh at North Block on November 14 to seek enhanced bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
Honkonen assured Dr Jitendra Singh that Finland is keen to cooperate with India in 5G, environment and clean technologies, bio-based economy, bio-banks and affordable healthcare. He said progress is also on subjects flagged by Indian and Finnish Prime Ministers. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation, which later held a separate meeting with the Indian delegation in the presence of the two ministers.
While Dr Jitendra Singh reiterated India's focus on collaboration even in Startups, the Finland Minister was full of praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the management of the Covid pandemic and also the efforts of the Union government in ensuring the development of vaccines and vaccination for all the countrymen.
India and Finland agreed to carry cooperation between the two countries to a new level in several areas of bilateral as well as global interests. The two nations decided to enhance cooperation in areas such as Digital Partnership in Future ICT, Future Mobile Technologies, and Digital Education. The two countries also emphasised having institutionalised joint working groups on areas of mutual interest.
This was reiterated by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and the visiting Finland Minister Petri Honkonen. The visit comes in the wake of the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin during a Summit meeting on March 16, 2021.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, "The bilateral STI collaboration between the two countries is an attempt to stimulate innovative R&D projects that address a specific need or challenge; demonstrate high industrial relevance and commercial potential, and aim to deliver benefit to all participants, and more broadly, to both nations."
Singh conveyed to the Finland Minister that India is keen to develop research collaborations with Finnish R&D institutions and technology collaboration with Finnish Industry especially focusing on the application of Quantum Computing in areas such as sustainable energy technologies (generation, conversion, storage, and conservation), environment and clean technologies, bio-based economy, bio-banks and bio-based materials for different applications of water and Marine Technologies, Food & Agri Technologies.
India and Finland have strong bonding in science, technology and innovation. Within the framework of the S&T agreement, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Biotechnology, the Government of India and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland together with Business Finland and the Academy of Finland have been successfully collaborating for over a decade.
