'We promote trade and investment with all countries,' says Santha Ram, the chamber's secretary-general.

Whenever the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) organises missions to regions such as Africa and the Middle East, the chamber joins in.

'These are markets where traditionally our members have a strong foothold. We join trade missions as part of the Hong Kong delegation,' Mr Sital says.

The chamber also helps open doors for Hong Kong business. For example, when a delegation, led by Secretary for Information Technolo-gy and Broadcasting, Carrie Yau, attended the Partnership Summit 2001, held in Hyderabad, the forum was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The focus of Mrs Yau's visit in January last year was information technology (IT). She visited hi-tech centres in Hyderabad and Bangalore and IT companies, including Infosys, as well as the Indian Institute of Information Technology, now known as the International Institute of Information Technology.

A few months after this visit, TDC chairman Peter Woo received the red carpet treatment when he led a mission that coincided with Cathay Pacific's inaugural flight to New Delhi. In March 1996, the TDC and the chamber organised the first official Hong Kong products exhibition in India. The electronics show was held in Bangalore.

During his trip to New Delhi, Mr Woo addressed a conference in the capital. 'We see a new era dawning for trade between India and Greater China,' he told business people, referring to opportunities presented by China's WTO membership.

The chamber fosters strategic alliances. 'We encourage greater interaction between Hong Kong companies and Indian businesses,' Mr Sital says. And collaboration is being explored, especially on the IT front. 'We would like to develop IT linkages, especially in training.'

While in India, Mrs Yau also visited the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad, and observed that the institute could be a model for Hong Kong's IT training needs.

Apart from facilitating trading opportunities, the chamber also addresses issues concerning the Indian community. It awards scholarships to needy and deserving Hong Kong students, and this year a HK$1 million fund will be set up.

'The chamber will inject HK$500,000,' Mr Sital says, 'and the remainder will be collected through fund-raising.'

The chamber also administers the Nehru Memorial Trust and the Tagore Centenary Trust Fund, both scholarship schemes.

Chamber snapshots

Permanent honorary presidents Dr Hari Harilela and K. Sital

Permanent honorary adviser K. B. Rathi

General Committee (2001-2002)

Chairman Raj Sital

Vice-chairmen Mahesh U. Buxani, Balram Chainrai

Honorary treasurer M. Arunachalam

Members Hatim D. Ebrahim, Arun K. Goel, Ashok Khemaney, Santhanam Krishnamachary, A. R. Kuppuswamy, Bharati Manek, V. K. Parekh, Rajkumar N. Sabnani, Naresh T. Thadani, L. R. Vaswani

? The Indian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong is one of five government-approved organisations authorised to grant Certificates of Origin. The others are the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, the Hong Kong Federation of Industries, and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce.The certificates are recognised internationally under Article 11 of the International Convention for the Simplification of Customs Formalities 1923.