Sitharaman discusses BIT, FTA, UPI expansion with Qatar during Doha visit
Finance minister discusses Qatar's $10 billion investment commitment, proposed BIT and FTA talks, while seeking wider adoption of India's UPI payment system
Qatar and Finland are forging connections between their small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and startup communities through international innovation events such as Slush in Helsinki and Web Summit in Qatar. The Qatar Research and Development and Innovation (QRDI) Council is collaborating with Business Finland to establish research, development, and innovation ties across key growth sectors.
Finnish Ambassador Juha Mustonen revealed that the Finnish embassy is exploring delegation exchanges between Qatari and Finnish business networks at these flagship tech gatherings, marking a potential starting point for strengthening business ecosystem links. This initiative aligns with Finland's ambitious goal to dedicate 4% of its GDP to research and development by the end of the decade, with SMEs and early-stage ventures playing a significant role.
Finland's startup ecosystem is considered a strong model for Qatar, with Mustonen emphasizing the nation's heavy investment in research and development. He also highlighted Slush as a primary platform for founder-investor deal-making, noting that it attracted 14,000 participants worldwide last year. Similarly, Web Summit Qatar is seen as a potential hub for cross-border collaboration, encompassing strategic sectors such as deeptech, 5G and 6G technologies, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and satellite technologies.
Written by urgent.news from Gulf Times Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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