President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Iceland, Switzerland and Slovenia next week with a business delegation seeking cooperation in areas such as the blue economy, science and technology, tourism and climate, according to a senior government official.

“These days it is very important to bring the business component to the fore. So in all the three countries we have incorporated this element according to the standard practice,” said A Gitesh Sarma, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West), at a press conference on Friday.

India shares very cordial bilateral ties with each of these three countries, Sarma added. “They have the desire to build very strong tie-up with a country like India with a multi-faceted economy of its own,” he said.

The importance of these countries could be seen in their potential in technology especially in niche areas like blue economy, sustainable development, R&D, science & technology and tourism, the Secretary said.

“The State visit will provide opportunities to enhance our political, economic, academic and science and technology linkages and give a much needed focus to bilateral ties. There would be MoUs and agreements that would be signed during the course of the visit,” Sarma said.

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