Speech of Shri C. Vidyasagar Rao, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry

H.E. Mr. Celso Amorim, Foreign Minister, Distinguished Officials and Business Executives

Ladies & Gentlemen

It gives me pleasure to jointly address on the occasion of Indo-Brazil business meeting. Brazil has been traditionally our major trading partner country in Latin America and we attach great importance for maintaining good commercial and economical relations with Brazil. I would like to appreciate and recognize Brazilian gesture of identifying India as one of the six countries (US, UK, Japan, Germany, China & India) of the world with whom it would like to forge stronger trade and economic partnership.

We constituted last year the "Indo-Brazil Commercial Council" to facilitate further development of trade, investment and commercial relations between Brazilian and Indian Business sectors. Its first meeting was held on 8th April 2002 in New Delhi. In that meeting unresolved trade issues between two countries and other ways and means for promoting bilateral trade were discussed at length in view of the fast changing era of liberalization and duty reduction.

The Ministry of Commerce had launched a programme namely FOCUS:LAC in November 1997 in order to enhance India's trade significantly with LAC region. The programme has been reviewed and extended up to March 2004. the incentive given thereunder to exporters of both the countries has resulted in quantum jump in two ways trade.

India's share in the total imports of Brazil in 2002 was about 1.21 per cent. India's trade with Brazil in 2002-2003 was to the tune of US $ 899 million despite many barriers of distance, language, shipping and direct air services. During the year 2002-2003 India's export to Brazil grew up to US $ 583 million, which is 10% over the exports in the previous year. We would like to sustain the tempo of trade growth between the two distant but close trade partners through enhanced interactions. There is considerable scope for export of Indian goods to Brazil especially after recent economic liberalization and reduction in import duties by the Brazilian Government. Some of the potential sectors of India's export are : chemicals and pharmaceuticals, dyes and intermediates, textile items, engineering goods, electric and electronic components, plastic and rubber items, handicraft items, auto parts and food products.

Investigations initiated by Brazilian Government against grant of subsidy and imposition on anti dumping duties against Indian import items is one of the trade barriers for promotion of bilateral trade. Indian business community of Polyester films is grateful for Department of Commercial Defence for closing the investigation into subsidy on export of polyester films to Brazil. I hope that Brazilian Government will look into other cases of Anti subsidy and anti dumping on the export of Jute Bags, Steel bars, Cycle tyres and Horse Shoe Nails and decide the cases on merit.

There are several other areas where economic cooperation between India and Brazil can progress further. These include IT, Science & Technology and Space. There is vast potential for growth in information technology in Brazil. M/s APTECH has already made its presence in Sao Paulo with its professionals of educational software. M/s TATA Infotech and some other Indian companies are also promisingly looking at the emerging market of information technology in Brazil.

The FOCUS:LAC Programme launched by the Ministry of Commerce has succeeded in focusing and sensitizing the attention Latin America in general and Brazil in particular about the Indian economy with considerable scope and opportunity of trade and investment. Indian trade delegations with specific product groups are encouraged to visit Brazil regularly for increasing their interaction with the Brazilian business community. A "Made in India" exhibition ITE 2001, larges ever exhibition comprising 260 Indian companies projecting India's capabilities in IT, Telecom, Engineering and Textile sectors, was organized at Sao Paulo in September 2001. We are going to organize next month an exhibition "INDIATECH 2003" at Sao Paulo for projecting capability of Indian Engineering sector.

I would like to convey my thanks to Brazilian Government for initiating with a positive note for having Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and MERCOSUR. India and Mercosur have already signed a Framework Trade Agreement on 18th June 2003 at Asuncion. Now at the first step in the Framework, PTA is to be finalized shortly between India and MERCOSUR.

I am sure that this joint meeting of business would provide a forum for useful exchange of views between the two business communities.

I express my immense thanks to H.E. Celso Amorim for his visit to India with his delegation and I hope that this occasion would certainly open new avenues in our bilateral trade. I am also thankful to FICCI for organizing this programme.

Thank you.