New Delhi, 19 April,2022: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Finland Chamber of Commerce in India (FINCHAM) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in areas of infrastructure projects, smart cities and sustainable development in India. CII and FINCHAM will explore the possibility of associating and bringing together other Technology/Infrastructure Solution Partners, as cohesive group, in relation to certain infrastructure projects and other business initiatives coming up in India, including setting up and development of Smart Cities (“Smart Cities”).
CII & FINCHAM are also keen to explore the possibility of associating and bringing together government and corporate sector action towards climate change and sustainable development. The MoU will provide a platform for the Finnish and Indian companies to collaborate towards the national sustainability agenda with focus on circular economy, climate action and air quality. The association can leverage existing platforms of CII like Clean Air Better Life forum, India Plastics Pact and Climate Charter to deepen the relationships. This MoU would promote high-level engagements between leading Finnish and Indian businesses on Sustainability driven themes and exchange of best practices and learnings between Indian and Finnish private sector players.
Elaborating on the collaboration, Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Chairperson, FINCHAM India and President, Fortum India said, “FINCHAM has been partnering with CII on several flagship activities, including the IETF and Annual Sustainability Summits. We are confident that this MoU would be an important step in not only strengthening the cooperation between the two chambers, but also provide a platform for the Indian and Finnish corporate sectors to combine innovative expertise on the relevant national agendas – Smart Cities and Sustainability. We are hopeful that this collaboration with CII would translate into initiatives which would be complimentary to the sustainability and �?green growth’ driven partnership announced by the two countries’ Prime Ministers in March last year.”
Following the signing ceremony, Ms. Seema Arora, Deputy Director General, CII shared, “CII has facilitated Industry’s evolution and progress through the pioneering initiatives on green building, climate change, circular economy, air pollution, plastics use, biodiversity conservation, resource efficiency, waste management and many more. Through this MoU, we are looking forward to help Finnish and Indian companies to collaborate in driving the sustainability agenda by leveraging our existing initiatives like Cleaner Air-Better Life, India Plastics Pact, Climate Action Charter.”
The MoU was signed in the presence of the Hon’ble Minister of Economic Affairs & Employment of Finland, Mr. Mika Lintilä, who is presently visiting India along with a Finnish business delegation, and the Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs, Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi. Speaking on the occasion, Minister Lintilä said, “India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Finnish companies operating in India across different sectors have expertise that India’s growing and developing economy needs. I warmly welcome the collaboration between FINCHAM and CII to strengthen the win-win business cooperation between Finland and India”
