Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India’s strong economic growth presents significant opportunities for global investors, as she held high-level engagements during her official visit to Norway.
During her meeting with Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s Minister of Finance, Sitharaman discussed strengthening cooperation in the renewable energy sector, with a focus on solar power, rare earth processing, carbon capture and storage.
According to a post by the Ministry of Finance on social media platform X, both sides agreed to work towards leveraging the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), particularly in the areas of the blue economy, green economy and investments through sovereign wealth and pension funds.
Stoltenberg informed the Finance Minister that Norway is looking forward to the visit of Narendra Modi later this year and expressed hope that the visit would further strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The Finance Minister also interacted with members of the Norwegian Parliament at the Storting, including Tuva Moflag, Head of the Finance Committee, Trine Lise Sundnes, Deputy Head of the EFTA Committee, and Himanshu Gulati, Head of the India–Norway Friendship Group.
Discussions focused on avenues for mutual investment and collaboration, with particular emphasis on opportunities arising from the India–EFTA TEPA. The committee members also welcomed the proposed visit of Prime Minister Modi to Norway later in the year, expressing optimism that it would further enhance bilateral ties.
Sitharaman invited the Norwegian lawmakers to visit GIFT-IFSC and highlighted that it is a world-class, globally competitive financial hub offering modern infrastructure, tax incentives and a liberalised regulatory framework for financial institutions operating within the International Financial Services Centre.
The Finance Minister is also scheduled to hold a roundtable discussion with Norwegian CEOs and investors and engage with members of the Indian diaspora during her stay.
Earlier, Sitharaman visited Germany, where she met senior leaders and industrialists and discussed bilateral trade relations in the context of the proposed India–European Union Free Trade Agreement.
— IANS
