The market is looking for confidence, says the Finnish minister on the lessons learned from the Adani Group’s share crisis

The global market is looking for confidence and the flow of funds follows the direction of confidence, said Finland’s Foreign Trade Minister Ville Skinnari. Speaking exclusively to The Hindu, Mr Skinnari, who is here on an official visit, responded to a question about the recent plunge in the Adani Group’s shares on the stock market, noting that such incidents could be avoided through “smart policy making”. ‘ at government level and digital transparency.

“The market is looking for trust and where there is trust there is money and further investment. Of course I speak on behalf of Finland. That is why we in the EU and in Finland value trust-building and intelligent policy-making. I truly believe that India’s stock markets offer many opportunities for Finnish companies,” Mr Skinnari said, suggesting ways to deal with financial irregularities and crises like the Adani Group, which have the potential to trigger a systemic shock.

Mr Skinnari said the digital infrastructure makes it possible to ensure a healthy environment for starting a business in Finland to such an extent that one can start a business in their country without actually ‘visiting’ it. “We are the first country in the world with a strong digital identity that will help us to complete the immigration processes faster and more securely,” said the minister, calling for more face-to-face contacts between Finland and India.

The minister was in town to meet his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal and other officials as Finland searches the world for partners in clean energy generation and digital governance. The minister drew attention to the digital innovations that Finland has implemented to increase transparency in financial markets and security for investors.

“Politics are very important. In Finland we always value transparency. Because of digitization, everything is open and everything can be monitored and analyzed, and of course we come back to the issue of trust,” said Mr. Skinnari, who presented Finland’s view of a value-based marketplace, adding: “The message from our companies is, that we build trust, transparency and governance that also allows for more investment.” He invited Indians to turn to Finland.

The minister’s visit to India coincided with preparations for the election season in Finland, where the government of Social Democrat Prime Minister Sanna Marin will seek re-election in the first week of April. The election is likely to reflect sentiment in Europe as it deals with the fallout from years of Russia’s campaign against Ukraine. Mr Skinnari said the Finnish government was determined to ensure that no one was left behind and that the welfare state model in the Nordic region continued to guide Finnish public policy.

“Our government, led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin, has endured a series of crises such as the COVID pandemic and Russia’s attack on Ukraine. We have proven that we are resilient. We have people’s trust and we want to invest in people. We want to continue investing in education, social and health systems. We want to make sure that nobody is left alone and that is the cornerstone of the Nordic welfare society, which has been Finland’s success story for 105 years,” said Mr Skinnari.

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