A 23-member Qatari ministerial delegation visiting Kerala has expressed interest in investing in the Technopark campus here.

V.J. Jayakumar, general manager of the IT campus, said the delegation, which is on a three-day visit to Kerala, wanted to invest in Technopark's infrastructure.

"They went around our place and visited three IT companies in our campus for discussions. They were also keen to invest in setting up an international convention centre for which the Kerala government would give the land," Jayakumar told.

Technopark, set up by the Kerala government on the outskirts of the capital city in 1996, now houses 70 IT companies. It has built up space of 1.5 million sq ft.

"The government has now acquired another 100 acres. It is here that the Qatari delegation is interested in investing along with the Kerala government," said Jayakumar.

The Qatari delegation, which arrived Tuesday night, includes Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al Mehamood and Deputy General Secretary of the Qatari Supreme Investment Council Hussain Al Abdullah.

Leading Technopark based IT company IBS, which does business with Qatar Airways, gave a presentation to the delegation.

Said IBS vice president Suresh Varghese: "We had fruitful discussions with them as Qatar is planning a major $5 billion airport expansion programme and we are familiar with the aviation software industry.

"Another area they were interested in was our expertise in the oil and gas logistics software. They have informed us that more elaborate discussions would be held shortly."