Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), a government department responsible for attracting foreign investment, announced Monday that it's going to co-organize a business conference in New Delhi, India next month in partnership with Guangdong Province, to introduce the business advantages of HK and Guangdong. Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's government and the People's Government of Guangdong Province, the "Hong Kong-Guangdong Business Conference in New Delhi 2010" will be held in New Delhi on October 27, 2010.

Simon Galpin, Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, said today on a reception that they would talk to hundreds of Indian business leaders at the conference about the business opportunities in the Greater Pearl River Delta proposition, which included Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao.

"Hong Kong is well positioned to be the launching pad for the Indian companies' outward foreign direct investment," added Galpin, stating that the city offers sophisticated trade, finance and logistics support and also is a gateway to the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong and India enjoy relatively close ties in trade and investment. As of March 2010, total trade between the two places amounted to 104.9 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Galpin also said they had assisted 40 Indian companies to set up or expand their business in Hong Kong as of the end of June this year, many of them from the banking, transport and industrial sectors. So far, about 1,500 Indian companies have been set up in Hong Kong. (One U.S. dollar equals 7.8 Hong Kong dollars.)