1. It gives me great pleasure to join you all today at this forum to discuss investment and trade issues between India and China. I would like to welcome all participants from both China and India, expressing my particular appreciation for the presence of the delegation from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

2. Many of you are aware that our economic relations have grown very substantially in the last decade and a half. We are now at an important juncture where decisions that could be taken may raise our cooperation to a much higher level. This May, Premier Li Keqiang visited India and his discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh established a consensus on five important areas:

i) The two countries would address the issue of trade imbalance and our businesses would cooperate more strongly in many fields, including pharmaceuticals, IT and agro products.
ii) Project contracting, which has particular relevance for infrastructure development in India, will be enhanced.
iii) The two countries will establish industrial zones to provide platform for cluster-type development of enterprises.
iv) We will support banking institutions setting up a larger presence and carrying out more business activities, and
v) We will collaborate on development projects of common interest in third countries.

3. The delegation from Andhra Pradesh is here in pursuance of all the above objectives, but with a special focus on the establishment of Chinese industrial zones in India.

4. I am sure that today’s forum will be useful in providing greater information and encourage stronger collaboration between our business enterprises. I thank the organizers for their initiative and wish you all a very productive session.