Abdullah was addressing a gathering of diplomats of African missions, and captains of Indian industry organised by FICCI in Delhi on Thursday.The minister however noted that India had an overall trade deficit with Africa in 1999-2000. India's exports to the region were $1.6 billion, while its imports were $5.5 billion.

India's trade with West and North African countries had started growing, he said, and underlined the need to widen the commodity base as well as the base to include more African countries.

Currently, there are over 50 joint ventures and more than 25 wholly-owned Indian subsidiaries in Africa. The sectors covered include pharma, trading, textiles, IT etc. This has resulted in gainful utilisation of local resources available in Africa and also generation of employment from African nationals.

In this regard, Abdullah felt that there was scope for greater investment in Africa and also African investment in India.

The potential for cooperation in this area would include agro-processing, packaging, engineering, drugs and pharmaceuticals, information and technology, textiles and hotels.

He urged Indian and African business community to seriously study the business potential in both the countries in terms of trade and investment. From the government's side, efforts were on to tackle the constraints to trade and investments, he added.

He said that during his address to Heads of Indian missions and commercial representatives in Johannesburg, there were suggestions for increased interaction between governments and business of the two regions and participation in each others'fairs and exhibitions to bridge the information gap.