India and Finland sign MoU for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism

India and Finland have enjoyed a strong diplomatic and long economic relationship. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Government of Finland was signed for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism. The MoU was signed by Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Minister for Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Government of Finland Timo Harakka. A high-level delegation consisting of Arto Haapea, Minister Counsellor/DHM and Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Ambassador-Designate accompanied the Finnish Minister. Secretary, Tourism Yogendra Tripathi was also present on the occasion.

Finland is one of the important inbound source markets for India. In 2018, 21,239 Finnish tourists visited India. The signing of MoU with Finland will be instrumental in increasing tourist arrivals from this source market.

The signing of MoU is expected to establish the basis for a cooperative relationship to encourage and promote successful bilateral cooperation in the field of tourism, sharing data, knowledge, expertise etc. related to tourism and sharing experiences in making policies, regulation and standards in planning, implementation and development of tourism policy, encouraging development of partnerships in the context of multilateral development programmes and projects of international financial institutions, in which both participants have common interests.

Recently Mariyana Nikolova, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Demographic Policy of the Republic of Bulgaria accompanied by a high level delegation met the Minister for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Ministry of Tourism, Government of the Republic of India and discussed the ways and means to promote and develop tourism between India and Bulgaria.