OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper will promote Canada as open for business during a November 3-11 trip to Asia, although he is not likely to unveil long-awaited guidelines for foreign takeovers of Canadian firms, an aide said on Thursday.

"I don't think it's a problem at all to go around the world and say we're open for business, because we are," Harper's chief spokesman, Andrew MacDougall, told reporters ahead of the trip, which will take Harper to India, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

"Canada overwhelmingly supports foreign investment in Canada ... There's been a small handful of transactions that have been turned down under the Investment Canada Act."

ada and India have been working for eight years on an agreement to protect foreign investment, but it was not clear if this might be signed on the trip.

The two countries also have been negotiating a civil nuclear energy deal which would enable Canadian firms like Cameco Corp to export uranium to India.

China and India signed a nuclear cooperation agreement in 2010 but Canada wants further language that will let it ensure uranium imported from Canada is used only for peaceful purposes.

MacDougall could not say if agreement on these new provisions would be reached next week.

($1=$1.00 Canadian)