Vienna, Jul 11 (IANS): Indian companies are keen to explore investment opportunities in Austria across areas such as Research and Development, artificial intelligence (AI) and software in sustainability areas for addressing the European market, industry experts as Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his historic visit to the country.

Speaking at the India-Austria Business Forum in Vienna, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and Federation of Austrian Industries in conjunction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Austria, Martin Kocher, Minister of Labour and Economy, Austria stressed that we value the Indian startup ecosystem as one of the most vibrant in the world.

He added that there are cooperation opportunities in renewable energy, smart cities, audio-visual and films, tourism and other sectors.

Sanjiv Puri, President, CII, said we must encourage two-way cooperation in sustainable agriculture, water treatment and food processing.

"In critical areas in sustainability cooperation of circularity, adaptation to weather disruptions and biodiversity, Austrian technology partnerships can help India in these areas through AI, advanced sensors and other new tech instruments," said Puri.

Talking about India-Austria trade relations, R. K. Singh, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Investments and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that the two-way trade between India and Austria is worth about $2 billion which is relatively well balanced.

"Most MNCs who have invested in India, including many European ones who have stayed the course have reaped rich dividends in terms of outshining their parents, both in terms of topline and bottom-line expansion, profitability as well as enterprise value," said Singh.