President Mukherjee looks forward to cooperation in skills development with Finland

President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that he looks forward to India having greater cooperation in skills development with Finland during his two-day state visit to the Nordic nation.

"India is an old civilisation with a 'young' population: 65 percent of our population is presently below 35 years of age. Upgrading their skills for their effective participation in nation building is a high priority for the Government of India. We look forward to co-operating with Finland in the skills development sector," said the President during his address at the Helsinki City Hall here.

"During this visit, a number of agreements and MoUs are being signed. These will link premier academic and scientific institutions in India and Finland in noteworthy collaborations and promote joint work in many areas of shared interest. There is a lot that we can learn from the experiences, best practices and successful innovations of Finland; our scientists and professionals, too, have much to bring to the table," he added.

Talking of the shared interests that both nations have in science and technology, the President said, "Our common interests in the field of science and technology, our complementarities in the fields of information technology and engineering, our fruitful collaboration in biotechnology and the joint projects that we have taken up in polar research, oil exploration and clean and renewable energy have brought our peoples closer together in a mutually beneficial way."

Speaking about the growing bilateral relations between the two countries, President Mukherjee said, "In recent years, our bilateral cooperation has become increasingly multi-faceted and dynamic. We have begun to match our economic complementarities and our scientists have successfully partnered to achieve very interesting outcomes - whether in the field of bio- diagnostics or third generation bio-fuels or simple innovations that can be commercially developed by small and medium enterprises in India and Finland alike."

"We, in India, welcome entrepreneurs from Finland who have set up base and are working in India. We value their contribution in developing environment-friendly technologies. This in fact is one of the priorities of our Government and the success of Indo-Finnish collaborations in this field is certainly very promising," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, President Mukherjee was awarded the Helsinki Medal of Honour, which he termed 'honouring the people of India'.

Finland and India have traditionally enjoyed warm and friendly relations. Finland sees in India a large market for its products and a favourable investment destination for its high technology industries while India views Finland as an important member of the European Union (EU) and a repository of modern technology.