Prime Minister at the opening of the Nokia Facilitiy in India

I am happy to be the first Finnish Prime Minister for more than 20 years to visit India. I am in particular pleased to arrive here in the beautiful State of Tamil Nadu. I am grateful to the Indian Government that the visit can be done just now when Nokia stands ready to inaugurate their manufacturing facility for production of mobile handsets and network equipment here in Sriperumbudur, Chennai.

Nokia is the largest transnational company born and based in Finland and without comparison the most known company of Finnish origin globally. Nokia is also in general terms an icon of the Finnish information society and for the global outreach of Finnish enterprises. Therefore it is an honour for me to witness the inauguration of this Nokia facility at the start of my official visit.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Finland is a success story of a knowledge based society. The economic growth is based on a good and inclusive education system, high degree of investments in research and development and the facilitation of innovations. This is based on conscious political decisions in the first half of the 1990'ies. In these times information and communications technology penetrated Finnish consumer markets faster than elsewhere. For Finland it was a natural decision to lead the Nordic countries to open up mobile communications for competition by private operators, because Finland has traditionally allowed private telecommunications operators.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This Nokia factory was built in record time, which is a perfect example of the good cooperation between Finland and India. Growing cooperation between Finland and India will ultimately benefit both countries. Such cooperation is a good example of the benefits of globalisation. Finland is a small country with small home markets. The Finnish companies have understood early, that in order to benefit fully from their innovations and know-how they need to expand globally and move closer to the growth markets. From a Finnish point of view this is beneficial. Globally successful companies are healthier and stronger and may develop further also in Finland. Thus globalisation also may support domestic economic development. From this point of view, the opening of this factory in India is important for Finland and the Finnish economy. For India the supply of mobile handsets and network equipment by domestic production is just as beneficial.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

India is known for its determination to develop its capabilities in science, information technology and telecommunications. While India has in the recent years made great effort to improve the economic and regulatory environment for foreign investments, India deserves recognition for its understanding and commitment for the significance of globalisation. The opening of this factory is a visible fruit of this work.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Government of India and the local state Government of Tamil Nadu for their great support and cooperation.

I wish this joint Indian-Finnish venture the best of success.