New Delhi, Mar 26 : India and Finland have signed an agreement to cooperate in science and technology.

The agreement would provide a broad based framework of cooperation in the areas of research, development and innovation policies between the two countries with renowned cutting-edge technologies.

Union Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal and Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs Mauri Pekkarinen signed the agreement in Helsinki on March 25.

After signing the agreement, Sibal said that the way forward for the bilateral relations is to set up an innovation industrial Research and Development (R and D) fund enabling technology access to market for mutual benefit of the people of the two countries.

Mauri Pekkarinen termed the visit of Sibal as a big event in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Bilateral relations with Finland, which is an important member of the European Union (EU) with proven technological capabilities in Information on Communications Technology (ICT), biotechnology, industrial machinery and paper industry, have assumed a dynamic edge following the exchange of Prime Ministerial visits in 2006.

Finland has one of the highest investments in R and D as a percentage of its GDP among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.