INDUSTRY chamber Assocham has said that IT, pharma, textiles and agro-food sectors would be the key to India's expanding trade and economic ties with the European Union.

The expanded EU opens up opportunities for greater economic activities in these areas, mainly because of the inherent strength of the Indian industry in sectors such as IT and communication, biotech and pharmaceuticals, agro-food processing and textiles, the Chamber said in a release.

Indian IT companies will gain primarily by setting up their offices in new, low-cost EU-member countries and catering to the needs of an enlarged EU, it said.

IT exports from India have more than doubled in the last five years from 850 million euros in 1999-2000 to 2160 million euros in 2003-2004. EU accounts for 20 per cent of India's software exports.

However, the Indian IT sector has focused more on the UK due to the ready pool of English language experts, it said, adding there was a need to extend Indian human resources to non-English speaking areas.

Biotech and pharma can be priority areas for mutual cooperation between India and EU, the Chamber said. India has a major pharmaceutical and chemical sector with exports worth 260 million euros. Indian pharma companies could become the outsourcing hub for EU firms, it said.

The agro-food processing sector was another area in which adequate stress should be laid, the industry chamber said. Bilateral trade in the sector has more than doubled in the last decade, with the balance of trade in favour of India. India has been exporting coffee, tea, spice and fruits etc.