The Hindu Business Line : `Doha round augurs well for developing countries'

Cluster approach
Referring to the recent setting up of the Nokia handsets manufacturing facility in Chennai, Mr Vanhanen said that this was a good example of the Indo Finnish ICT cluster.

The Prime Minister of Finland, Mr Matti Vanhanen, with the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, at a meeting with India businessmen in the Capital on Monday. - Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , March13

The Prime Minister of Finland, Mr Matti Vanhanen, who is on a six-day visit said on Monday, "The Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration provided a useful signboard to help define the way forward for the negotiations. I sincerely hope that the agreement of process will lead to a constructive negotiation on substance. Big, fast growing economies like India, Brazil and China need to engage in reciprocal liberalisation and significant commitments also within the WTO."

He is accompanied by senior officials and a high-level business delegation.

Addressing a meeting organised jointly by industry chambers — FICCI, Assocham and CII — Mr Vanhanen said a successful Doha round would augur well for the global economy and produce tremendous advantages for the developing countries as well.

Speaking of the global trade competition, he said that India and the European Union (EU) had common challenges ahead and hoped that the forthcoming EU India Business Summit, to be held in Helsinki in October, would provide an opportunity to forge better bilateral ties between the two countries.

Highlighting the strengths of the economy of his country, the Finnish Prime Minister said that information and communication technology, engineering, electronics and paper sectors were competing successfully at the global level.

Referring to the recent setting up of the Nokia handsets manufacturing facility in Chennai, Mr Vanhanen said that this was a good example of the Indo Finnish ICT cluster.

The Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said India was committed to the WTO and that rules for global trade must prevail for a fair trade.

He emphasised that "the principles governing the global economy are changing and the need today is not for free trade but fair trade."

He said that the Indo-Finnish trade had shown a healthy growth; it had risen by 36 per cent last year.

While the exports to Finland increased by 23 per cent, the imports from Finland had increased to 40 per cent, he said.

Meanwhile, in a separate meeting today, the Finnish Prime Minister and the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Mr T.R. Baalu, decided to explore areas of cooperation in the fields of highways, shipping and port sectors.