PTI
 
Helsinki, Oct 13: Portraying India as an attractive, safe and profitable business destination, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited European firms to invest in the country's core sectors that require a massive $320 billion over the next five years.

 
"We need to do much more in the field of infrastructure and improve its all-round availability and quality," he told industrialists at the India-EU Business Summit in Helsinki on Thursday.

Singh specifically identified areas like infrastructure, manufacturing, knowledge services and retail as opportunities for foreign investors.

"The present level of bilateral economic engagement is far below potential," he told the European business community in the presence of Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen whose country is the current chair of EU.

Though EU remains India's largest trading partner with bilateral engagement of about $40 billion, FDI inflows from the 25-nation bloc was meagre at $375 million in 2005 compared to $451 million a year before.

Singh noted his government was giving thrust on increased private sector participation in public works, including highways, ports, and power sector, besides telecommunications.