BEIJING, Oct. 25 -- The China (Shenzhen) International Investment Fair (CSIIF) at the Shenzhen exhibition center has attracted 130 delegations from mainland provinces, the European Union and Southeast Asian countries.

The delegations brought in almost 3,000 projects and programs covering infrastructure, electronic communications, bio-medicine, energy and environmental protection, service trade, hoping to attract investments during the two-day event.

At the inaugural ceremony yesterday, Li Ming, Vice Mayor of Shenzhen, said the investment fair, organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Shenzhen Sub-Council, would offer cooperation opportunities to Shenzhen enterprises that hope to invest abroad, provide enterprises from all over the world with opportunities to invest in China or to attract investment to their countries.

"The fair was widely supported by governments of mainland cities and foreign chambers of commerce, which look to the fair for opportunities," said He Xuewen, head of the CCPIT's Shenzhen branch.

At Hall 8 at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center yesterday, Albert Rugaba, investment and trade officer of the Rwanda investment and Export Promotion Agency China Office, handed out his investment project guidebooks to visitors.

The country needs investments in architecture, mining, energy and agriculture, and especially in information and communication technology, according to Rugaba.

To attract investment, the Rwanda government had decided to create a free trade zone in Kigali in 2004.

"We are now looking for investors in infrastructure for the free trade zone, which will be operational next summer," said Rugaba.

Rugaba said Rwanda's linguistic and geographical position could allow it to be an ideal trade and investment hub for the region. Most people in the region are multilingual, speaking either French, English, Swahili or a mixture of all three.

To better introduce its investment environment, the consular-general of Sweden in Guangzhou organize d a one-hour promotion forum yesterday. With a population of nine million, the country has the largest number of multinationals on a population basis.

A small country, most of Sweden's production and business activities are engaged in overseas markets.

Wireless communications, bio-medicine, and automotive plants are leading industries in Sweden. In an era of technological advancement, it was impossible for a country to develop behind closed doors, said Kai Hammerich, president of the Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA).

"Investments in Sweden's high-tech industries would spur local enterprises to pay more attention to technological development to maintain their leading position on the world market," said Kai Hammerich.

According to the organizer, the chambers of Malaysia, Egypt will organize promotion forums today.