Finland hopes to conclude mobility agreement with India this year envoy

New Delhi, Jun 17 (PTI) Finland is optimistic about finalising an agreement with India in 2025 to facilitate the movement of skilled professionals, students and researchers, Finnish Ambassador to India Kimmo Lähdevirta said on Tuesday.
     The ambassador hopes to replace the 2022 declaration of intent with a memorandum of understanding to boost skilled manpower migration.
     "We want to facilitate the movement of students, academics, researchers, and business professionals. I hope to finalise it (mobility agreement) during this year, but I don't have a more specific timeline at the moment," the envoy underlined in an interview with PTI Videos.
     Lähdevirta identified ICT, healthcare, and services as in-demand sectors.
     India has signed around 18 mobility and migration agreements with other countries and similar agreements are under different stages of negotiations with several European countries.
     There are some 20,000 Indians in Finland working with global companies such as Nokia and in the startup sector. “I have around 2,000 students in Finland, and over 20 Indian companies like TCS, Infosys and HCL are already operating in Finland.”
     Finland's labour market faces challenges due to an aging population, low birth rates and skill mismatches, which create both shortages and surpluses in certain sectors.
     Lähdevirta said that there is a growing trend of collaboration between the two nations in digitalisation, education, sustainability and innovation, aligning with India's 'Make in India' vision.
     "I anticipate joint trade missions and other platforms for clean energy, circular economy, infrastructure and digital solutions will be forthcoming," the ambassador said.
     Lähdevirta also announced that Finland, in collaboration with the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, will host the World Circular Economy Forum in India in autumn 2026.
     The event is expected to attract around 1,500 professionals in person and thousands more online to discuss best practices in a circular economy.
     "I very much hope that all relevant business organisations will participate. I see this as a major global event," he said.
     Bilateral trade between Finland and India currently stands at around 3 billion euros, with expectations of further expansion.
     "I expect to see more companies from Finland to India, and vice versa," he said, emphasising Finland’s welcoming environment and focus on work-life balance as draws for Indian professionals and businesses.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)