President Mukherjee seeks trade, investment expansion with Norway, Finland

President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said that the aim of his visit to Finland and Norway was to seek expansion in education, research, innovation, investment and trade with India.

"Aim of my visit to both countries (Finland, Norway) was expansion in education, research, innovation investment and trade. The Norwegian Prime Minister also expressed his desire to take bilateral relations to a higher level," said President Mukherjee.

"I visited Finland, and expressed the need to cooperate against terrorism as terrorism knows no boundaries. I appraised both the countries of the recent initiatives of the new government, such as the 'Make in India' initiative. I urged them to look at India as an investment destination," he added.

Yesterday, the President had called for greater trade relations between India and Finland, saying that the present numbers did not reflect the true potential of the two nations.

On Wednesday, President Mukherjee was awarded with the Helsinki Medal of Honour, a gesture which he said was '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.