Germany on Thursday invited Indian investors to tap the vast opportunities in the field of information technology and telecommunication, especially in industrial belt of the country, Bavaria.

Many German companies have invested in India and more are willing to come, but it should not be only one way, Deputy Consultant General of Germany, Horst Pfeifer said at a seminar in Kochi on 'Europe Via Munich' to explore the market and business opportunities for Indian companies in Bavaria.

India is now a strong economic power and the bilateral trade between the two countries has doubled from euro 5 billion to euro10 billion, he said.

Bavaria is one of Europe's most attractive industrial locations and is dominated by high tech sectors such as electronics, information and transport technology and automobile industry among others.

In his inaugural address, leader of the opposition  in the Kerala assembly Oommen Chandy, said the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Germany in 2006 had reaffirmed the strategic partnership between India and Germany based on shared democratic values and shared common interests.

Trade, investments, technological and scientific collaboration in areas of infrastructure and energy contribute to the core of this strategic partnership.

SMEs in Germany are strong in areas of auto components, machine and hand tools, toys and pharmaceuticals. They can find cooperation with Indian companies operating in this domain, he said. 

Executive Director of state of Bavaria's India office at Bangalore John Kottayil said about 38,000 new business had been registered in Bavaria in 2007 and euro150 billon export volume had been touched.

Due to its pro investment policies, about 60 Indian companies have already set up their offices in Bavaria. Still there is great scope for Indian industries in life sciences and communciations, he said.

Several Indian IT companies have set up operations in Bavaria, where 20,000 IT companies are located. About 40 per cent of Germany's software companies are located in Bavaria, he added.

Audi, BMW and Man AG (Trucks) are the big names in the automobile industry which are located in Bavaria.

Quintus Bartscherer, Partner KoBa-Treuhand Gmbh and Britta Peterson-Barnhusen, Head of Passport and Visa section Consulate General of Germany were among those who spoke.

Britta said 38,000 visas were issued last year from the consulate at Chennai and this year's target was 42,000. A growth  of 17 per cent of expected.

While only seven per cent Keralites applied for visa, it was 14 per cent from Andhra Pradesh, 46 per cent from Karnataka and 36 per cent from Tamil Nadu.