By IANS
Mumbai : Finland Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen Wednesday said trade ties between India and his country should be strengthened and Helsinki should become the gateway to Europe.
Accompanied by Environment Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen and a high-level business delegation, the Finnish prime minister called on Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna at Raj Bhavan and discussed issues of bilateral trade, climate change and energy issues.
He said Finland should be made India’s gateway to European Union as the travel time span between Delhi and Helsinki was just about six hours.
Vanhanen and Krishna also discussed various socio-economic issues facing Maharashtra and Mumbai city, including population, education and transportation.
The prime minister observed during his talks that India had made great progress during the past few years and expressed a desire to strengthen the existing trade ties between the two countries.
He said Finland had the know-how and expertise, especially in the utilisation of non-conventional renewable energy sources, environment technology and solutions for sustainable development.
The governor said Maharashtra was one of the most sought after investment destinations and was considered the nerve centre of trade in India.
Vanhanen will be amongst the heads of five governments to join Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday when he opens the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) that has climate change as its theme.
The others expected are Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.