New Delhi, Feb 8: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh met both Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen here last evening.

On his third visit to the country, Stoltenberg said he is looking forward to enhancing business ties between the two countries.

Stoltenberg is slated to also meet Norwegian business and industry representatives in India.

Norway has increased investment and trade with India in the recent past, and Norwegian exports to India saw a considerable growth last year.

At present, there are around 35 Norwegian companies in India doing business in maritime, chemical, information technology, oil and gas sectors.

Finland is also looking to expand its trade with India in the fields of energy, civil aviation, financial services and science and technology.

In his meeting with Dr. Singh, Prime Minister Vanhanen discussed the potential for enhancing bilateral trade and investment between the two countries further.

The EU-India free trade negotiation and the Doha development agenda also featured on Vanhanen's agenda.

Trade between India and Finland during 2006-07 was 804 million U. S. dollars as against 782 million U. S. dollars in 2005-06.

The main items of export to Finland include drugs, chemicals, coffee, machinery and instruments, while Finnish exports constitute electronic goods, machinery, computer software, paper board and transport equipments.

The meetings were held on the sidelines of the three-day Delhi Sustainable Development Summit that commenced on Thursday.
(ANI)