The leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa met on Wednesday to discuss a trade agreement between three of the world’s most vibrant emerging economies.
The meeting is the first summit of the India, Brazil and South Africa Group, or IBSA, formed in 2003, as an informal group for political consultations between the three countries.
Deputy Indian Foreign Minister Anand Sharma said trade between the three countries currently totals about $8-billion a year, and that the leaders hope to raise the total to $10-billion in 2007.
”Over the past years, the trade flows have expanded in an extraordinary manner,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday following a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manomohan Singh. ”We are aware that our potential, however, is much larger.”
South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Brazil on Tuesday evening to join the two leaders for the five-hour summit on Wednesday.
The three nations, especially Brazil and India, have emerged as leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) developing nations, taking similar positions on trade issues and calling for more representation on the United Nations Security Council.
The G20’s demands for greater access to developed countries’ agricultural markets was one of the issues that led to a breakdown of the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round in July.
On Tuesday, the World Bank issued a report about doing business in Brazil, India and South Africa, which said that, while all three countries have large markets and growing economies, issues like high taxes, the high cost of credit, macroeconomic and political instability all represent obstacles to that must be overcome.
According to the World Bank, Johannesburg in South Africa ranked as 28th best city for doing business, but Mumbai in India ranked only 116th and Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and financial capital, ranked 119th.
Investors cited high taxes as the biggest obstacle to doing business in Brazil, corruption as the biggest issue in India, and in South Africa problems finding qualified labour was most pressing issue.
On Tuesday, Brazil and Indian signed a host of cooperation agreements in the areas of petroleum, ethanol and crop science. — Sapa-AP