Finnish businesses are entering India's dynamic market and Business Finland is empowering them

Finland, home to legendary telecom giant Nokia and several other beloved brands, is among the countries engaged in India's growing market for years now. Business Finland, a leader in promoting Finnish business interests in India, is bullish about the South Asian economy as a business and investment destination and is helping Finnish companies achieve global growth through strategic matchmaking with Indian system integrators.

Indian markets with Finnish expertise

"India is the most important market so we started this programme with India and we are going to expand this further," said Robin Singh, head of the System Integrator Programme at Business Finland, in an exclusive interview with WION.

By partnering with key Indian integrators like Infosys and HCl, Business Finland matches Finnish technological expertise with Indian market needs, fostering fruitful collaborations, said Singh, explaining the group's strategies and initiatives.

He was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised in collaboration with the Embassy of Finland in India on Wednesday (Feb 7).

"We understand their (Indian companies) needs and what their clients are looking for and we go back to Finland, search for the right technologies partner from Finland, and bring them here to matchmake them with Indian system integrators."

India as the market place: Cultural understanding and market navigation

Singh stressed the importance of patience and focus when entering a diverse and complex market like India.

"The most important part is for them [companies] to understand the complexity of the Indian market. There was this company which came to us last year and they told us that when they started working in India, 30 years back, India was the most loss-making country for them but today India is the biggest market both in terms of value and volumes for them globally," he shared.

"So, that is the kind of reward that you get from India and we always tell them that when you come to India, take our support, take our guidance and you will be rewarded really really well."

"India is a complex market. India is a big market," he said, adding, "But having said this, India is also a very rewarding market. India has already become, for some of our companies, either the biggest market already in the world for them or if not the biggest, one of the top three markets for our companies globally."

Business Finland provides essential support to Finnish companies, offering guidance on navigating cultural nuances and finding the right partners to ensure success in India's dynamic business landscape, he said.

"We explain that to Finnish companies and tell them that if you are looking at India, be patient, be focused. You just can't knock on the door, try and sell something and go back. It's not going to work that way in India. If you have to come and get rewarded in India, find the right partners, take our support and we can help them with market research, we can help them find the right partners. We can also guide them and navigate them in this complex Indian market," Singh said.

Fostering collaboration through strategic events

Business Finland creates opportunities for meaningful engagement and partnership building, by partnering with organisations like the Finnish Chamber of Commerce and participating in key tech summits.

Business Finland organises industry-specific meetings, networking events, and delegations to facilitate collaboration between Finnish and Indian companies.

"We also have the Finnish Chamber of Commerce, which has about 35 companies, part of the planning that they have and we organise events for Fincham. We also organise delegations with visits of Finnish companies to India," Singh pointed out.

"These are our own events and then we also are the prime partners for other events such as the Bengaluru Tech Summit. We also have a collaboration with the government of Karnataka. We also participate in the India Mobile Congress (IMC) and then we also collaborate at the global scale for events Mobile World Congress etc."

Singh highlighted the significance of India's growing startup ecosystem and the potential for Finnish companies to thrive in collaboration. With a focus on emerging technologies like 6G, Artificial Intelligence, and sustainability, Business Finland looks forward to foster research partnerships and commercial ventures between Finnish and Indian entities.

6G Bridge programme: Seizing opportunities in emerging technologies

By leveraging India's aspirations in the 6G space in mobile telephony and Finland's expertise, the 6G Bridge programme seeks to facilitate collaboration between Indian system integrators and Finnish entities.

"There was a report where the government of India said that India would want to have at least 10 per cent of the total Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) registration globally in the 6G space and we at Finland and Finland as a country, we have decided to be the torchbearer of 6G globally."

"In the year 2018, we started working on 6G and the government has funded about 300 million euros to develop the right set of 6G skills and research within Finland and we believe that what India is looking for and what Finland can offer there is a great match."

6G Mobile World Congress 2024

Singh said that this year, at the 6G Mobile World Congress they are taking about 20 countries including Finland in the communication space, metaverse, and sustainability.

"Along with these 20 countries, we are also taking four research centres including the University of Oulu. We have already reached out to the system integrators from India. We have received a positive response and they have also agreed to do very focused matchmaking events in Barcelona."

Partnerships in AI

Finnish companies are seeking collaboration with Indian firms on AI, where India boasts a vast and rapidly growing market, fueled by a combination of technological advancements and increasingdigitalisation.

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On this, Singh said, "We are the first country in Europe to have a metaverse strategy. We are the second in Europe to have an AI strategy. We are very strong. We are called the torchbearers of communication technologies and we are number one in sustainability solutions globally. Looking at the opportunities in India and the push from the government I think sustainability and AI... these are the two areas where I believe we are going to see a lot of opportunities for the Finnish companies, especially in the sustainabilityspace."