The Maltese trade delegation visiting India next month will be concentrating mainly on pharmaceuticals, education and the film industry, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said in a recent interview with Rediff.com, India's leading internet news portal.

Mr Fenech is to lead the delegation to Mumbai and New Delhi between November 21 and 29. "There has been a good response in our country and we are expecting a good number of businessmen and groups from our country to participate in the delegation," Mr Fenech said.

Mr Fenech described India as a country with immense potential and said he believed there were several areas which could be of mutual interest and benefit to both countries.

The Finance Minister said Indian companies have already set up operations in Malta, pointing to Aurobindo Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures generic medicines, as one example.

Mr Fenech said that several international film production houses, including the Indian film industry, have produced films in Malta.

He said there were many places in Malta which were ideal for Indian movies and that Malta's film commission was already in direct touch with the film makers. Mr Fenech said Malta's education product could interest Indian students.

"Malta has a major advantage of being an English-speaking country in Europe and our educational system is highly evolved. We are strong in maritime technology and our maritime institutes have a good reputation internationally.

"Officials from the shipping department in India attend specific training programmes conducted here. We are also focusing on education in the aviation sector and there is a great scope for cooperation in this area," Mr Fenech said.

He added that Aurobindo Pharmaceuticals managed its European operations from Malta and he believed there could be more players in the pharmaceutical sector which would like to take advantage of Malta's strategic location.

"We provide a gateway to Europe for their business operations and I am sure that several Indian pharmaceutical companies would like to set up shop in Malta," he concluded.