The Hindu Business Line : Brazil keen on partnerships with India

The President of Brazil, Mr Luiz Inacio Da Silva, being welcomed by the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr Arun Jaitley, at a meeting with Indian businessmen in the Capital on Tuesday. - Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Jan. 27

BRAZIL is keen to strike partnerships with India in the area of infrastructure, railways, highways and energy, the visiting Brazilian President, Mr Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said here on Tuesday.

"We are anxious and will be working towards consolidating economic and political partnership that will create confidence in all spheres — trade, culture, business and economy," he said at an interactive business meeting jointly organised by FICCI and CII here.

He also underscored the necessity for air connectivity between India and Brazil via South Africa, which will undoubtedly spur tourism and business. He urged Brazilian and Indian business leaders to open up their economic spaces, go out and fight, have partners and strike businesses based on innovative and creative ideas.

He said, "We have to make things happen. We have to go out and strike business. We must have more creative and daring people."

The President further stated that the 21st century could belong to countries such as India, Brazil, China and Mexico, South Africa and Russia provided they move ahead in competition in areas such as science and technology, for which potential is immense.

"Crying to end subsidies at WTO will not bring any result. It will only have an impact when we prove that we have alternative opportunities, for which we need to reach out and grab them," he stressed.

On signing the Preferential Trade Agreement between India and Mercosur (comprising Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay), Mr da Silva stated that the most important task now is to recover the credibility of Mercosur. He was of the opinion that the challenge now is to offer more than Brazil. In this regard, he opined that all countries of South America should become members of Mercosur.

He further added that this would lead to India's interaction with all the countries in South America and vice-versa.

Addressing the meeting, Mr Arun Jaitley, Union Commerce Minister, expressed hope that the Preferential Trade Agreement, which was signed recently between India and Mercosur, will soon transform into a free trade agreement. He lamented the low volume trade that exists between the two countries and indicated that the challenge lies in establishing synergy in myriad areas despite geographical distance.

Meanwhile, Brazil has also sought India's support in modernising its intellectual property rights (IPR) infrastructure. The Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry & Commerce, Mr Luiz Fernando Furlan, indicated this when he called on Mr Jaitley later in the day.

Mr Jaitley briefed the Brazilian Minister about the various initiatives taken by India to modernise its IPR set-up in order to establish an effective world-class IPR systems as also the substantial work done in the last couple of years for putting in place a modernised and integrated IP infrastructure.

The Brazilian Minister underlined his Government's desire for closer cooperation with India in fields such as pharmaceuticals and agriculture, on a mutually beneficial basis.