NEW DELHI: Finland sees huge possibilities to double bilateral trade with India from its current level of around $3 billion, Finnish Ambassador to India Mikko Kivikoski said adding that the proposed India-European Union free trade agreement could provide a framework for translating growing political engagement into business opportunities.
Kivikoski said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finnish President Alexander Stubb had set a target of doubling bilateral trade during Stubb’s state visit to India. “Our leaders during the State visit, Prime Minister Modi and our President Alexander Stubb, actually set a clear target for us to double the trade,” Kivikoski said.
“At the moment, the trade between our countries is around three billion US dollars. I personally believe that it’s quite modest. So definitely there are huge opportunities to double that,” he added. The ambassador said Finnish companies were showing increasing interest in the Indian market, while Indian businesses were also exploring opportunities in Finland.
“I see among the Finnish businesses… excitement. You can see new companies interested in Indian markets, and the same applies to Indian businesses. So I’m optimistic,” he said.
Kivikoski said one of his priorities as ambassador would be to convert the recent increase in political contacts between the two countries into greater commercial engagement.
“It’s been record-high activity bilaterally this year between Finland and India,” he said, pointing to Modi’s engagement with Finland, Stubb’s state visit, the Nordic-India Summit in Oslo and visits to Finland by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Kivikoski also expressed optimism about the India-EU free trade agreement, negotiations for which were concluded in January. The agreement is expected to be signed in Brussels on December 16, with implementation expected in early 2027 following European Parliament approval and completion of India's domestic procedures.
The ambassador said the agreement would significantly expand the potential market available to businesses in both regions. “This will create a market of two billion people, 1.5 billion in India and 0.5 billion in Europe,” he said.
“That’s a huge thing. Already now I feel it in my concrete work that it’s creating excitement and activity among the businesses,” Kivikoski added. An investment protection agreement is also expected to follow. Kivikoski said such an arrangement could support greater investment flows between India and Europe.
He described the broader trade relationship as “two-way traffic” and said the agreement was “about partnering”. Kivikoski also said Finland attaches importance to India's engagement with both Russia and Ukraine as efforts continue to find a diplomatic resolution to the war. India has maintained contacts with Moscow and Kyiv while repeatedly calling for dialogue and diplomacy to end the conflict. Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, has been among the European countries closely affected by the war's security and economic consequences.
