Brazil, India Vow to Tap “Vast Potential” in Trade Ties

Brazil is trying to cultivate closer ties with India to secure business opportunities in a fast-growing economy even as the two countries vowed to “realize the full potential of the partnership, and in particular its strategic component”.

The 7th India-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting, co-chaired by Indian and Brazilian Foreign Ministers Sushma Swaraj and Mauro Vieira was held in New Delhi on Thursday.

“The two Ministers reviewed economic and trade relations noting that there remained tremendous potential for further growth and diversification of bilateral trade,” said a joint statement released after the meet.

Bilateral trade in 2014 increasing by over 20 per cent to $11.42 billion with India advancing from 12th to 8th among Brazil’s top trading partners.

However, “the Ministers noted that there is unutilized potential which needs to be tapped”.

The Foreign Ministers urged early holding of India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism and boosting the CEOs Forum.

Brazil’s Foreign Minister Vieira also met Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday.

Brazil acknowledged that a significant number of Indian companies had invested in Brazil with over 50 having a physical presence in areas such as oil, renewable energy, mining, engineering, automotive services, information technology and pharmaceuticals.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is striving to revive an economy that is battling high inflation and higher-than-forecast unemployment.

Brazil’s inflation exceeded 10 per cent for the first time in 12 years, the national statistics agency said on Thursday.

Rousseff had met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Turkey during the recently concluded G20 Summit.

Indian Prime Minister Modi has sought to drum up the inward investment he needs to bring to life the appeal to “Make in India”.

India, Asia’s third-largest economy after China and Japan, needs faster economic growth to create work for the one million young people who enter the workforce every month.

Meanwhile, India and Brazil on Thursday “agreed to foster the interests of the South in the context of the global discourse on the reform of the UN Security Council and the IMF, international terrorism, climate change, sustainable development, WTO and the Doha Development Agenda” said the joint statement.

“They stressed the important role played by BRICS in the global scenario. They noted that with the creation of permanent institutions – the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement – BRICS cooperation has evolved significantly by demonstrating its capacity to produce collective solutions to address contemporary regional and global challenges,” it added.

India appreciated Brazil’s efforts to work with MERCOSUL partners for expansion of the India-MERCOSUL Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), thereby increasing the trade basket from 450 to 2000 items.

The India-Brazil strategic partnership was described as exemplary and mutually advantageous; “distance and language were not seen as constraints as both sides had invested heavily in promoting shared interests and aspirations”, said the joint statement in New Delhi on Thursday.

The next India-Brazil Joint Commission will be held in Brazil in 2017.