Agri-Biz, IT & Pharma on
Indo-Brazilian Tie-up List

India and Brazil, two fast growing economies and leaders among developing nations, have identified agriculture and Information Technology as two key areas for cooperation and collaboration, during a high-level meeting held recently in Sao Paulo between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The two leaders signed as many as eight agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) covering cooperation in a vast rage of economic sectors, reflecting the mutual desire to impart a strong impetus to the growing bilateral ties with a view to realizing the full potential of the relationship between the two countries.
Making a statement at the end of the bilateral talks, Singh said, “It is my sincere conviction that there is considerable scope for the expansion of our cooperation in the agricultural sector, particularly food processing. We would like greater interaction between our agricultural universities and food processing sectors. We invite Brazil to partake in India's success in IT, bio-technology and pharmaceuticals.”
“It is my sincere conviction that there is considerable scope for the expansion of our cooperation in the agricultural sector, particularly food processing. We would like greater interaction between our agricultural universities and food processing sectors. We invite Brazil to partake in India's success in IT, bio-technology and Pharmaceuticals,” he said.
Singh said, “India and Brazil are large pluralistic democracies. Our economic growth is broad-based and multifaceted. This provides opportunities for expansion of our bilateral trade and economic relations. Our economic growth is also of global significance, as part of the so-called BRIC countries.”

Following are excerpts of Singh's statement.
We are indeed gratified that there has been an upsurge in investment flows. Major Indian companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy´s among others, have taken advantage of opportunities in the Brazilian market. ONGC Videsh has earmarked approximately 400 million dollars for acquisition of a state in an offshore block in South-East Brazil.
We have supported the Ethanol Initiative proposed by President Lula. Indian companies from both public and private sector have evinced interest in exploring production opportunities in Brazil to meet the anticipated growth in Ethanol used in India for both industrial as well as automobile use.
India and Brazil have a long tradition of cooperation in international fora including on global trade and economic issues. We have worked together in the WTO and are both united in our desire for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round of negotiations. We have been partners in the G-4 efforts to work towards expansion of the Permanent Membership of the UN Security Council. Brazil will have the distinction of hosting the first Summit of IBSA tomorrow.

Indo-Brazilian Joint Communique. The Key Initiatives
The two leaders noted with satisfaction the growth of bilateral trade and investment between India and Brazil. They expressed satisfaction at the quantum leap registered by the two-way bilateral trade and resolved to create an enabling environment to deepen and diversify the growing commercial and economic interaction encompassing trade, investment and technology. To this end, exchange of business delegations, increased participation in each other's trade events and promotion of mutual investment and setting up of joint ventures would be undertaken in a concerted manner. The two sides would also encourage establishment of business linkages in banking and other service sectors. They committed themselves to encourage the public and private sectors of their respective countries to increase and diversify the bilateral flows of goods and services.

Joint Committee on Biofuels
The two leaders emphasized the significance of bilateral technological cooperation in all aspects of energy research and development, with a view to improve and diversify the energy supply and to develop more efficient, affordable and cost effective energy technologies. In this context, they encourage the development and use of alternative sources of energy particularly of bio-fuels to enhance sustainability and they reaffirmed that new forms of energy that are clean, safe and economically efficient should be fully explored. To this end, they decided to create a Joint Committee on Biofuels.
President Lula and Prime Minister Singh recalled the signing of the Exchange Programme on Cooperation in the field of Education, during the Joint Committee Meeting, in January 2006 and reaffirmed that priority should be given to the cooperation in fields such as post-graduation, research, professional education and remote education courses. They noted with satisfaction the strengthening of the relations among universities of the two countries, that will be further improved by the first meeting of the Joint Working Group, to be held before the end of the year.
The National Institute of Metrology, Standardisation and Industrial Quality (INMETRO) and the National Physical Laboratory of India (NPLI) agreed on the content of a Memorandum of Understanding, concerning scientific and technological co-operation in the areas of Chemistry, Physics and Engineering Measurement Sciences. Both sides manifested the intention of signing the document, during the meeting of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, to be held in Paris, during the current year.
The two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to fighting hunger and poverty, promoting democratic values and fostering economic development and emphasized the importance of implementing the Millennium Development Goals. They supported, in this regard, the promotion of innovative financing mechanisms aimed at complementing existing ODA flows on a stable and predictable basis. In particular, they expressed their satisfaction with the launching of the International Drug Purchase Facility (UNITAID), a mechanism based on innovative funding and other sources of long-term financing as a means of enhancing the access of poor people in developing countries to drugs against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis at affordable prices.

Resumption of Doha talks
President Lula and Prime Minister Singh stressed their intention to continue working with the G-20 towards the resumption of the negotiations of the Doha Round. They agreed that the substantial, political and technical work that has been carried out so far provides a solid platform for the continuation of WTO talks and expressed their confidence that WTO members will be prepared to reengage in the negotiations in the near future.

IMF Reforms
The two leaders expressed the view that the IMF must be reformed to reflect the current realities of the global economy and this must include a reform of quotas with a higher allocation to the developing countries so as to ensure more effective participation by them in the decision making processes of the IMF. Any changes that are proposed must be based on these principles.
The two leaders signed as many as eight agreements covering cooperation in a a vast rage of economic sectors. These include: Bilateral Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation; Air Services Agreement; MoU on Cooperation in the field of Human settlements, MoU on Plant Health Protection; MoU on Conduct of Weeks of Indian Culture in Brazila & Weeks of Brazilian Culture in India; MoU between Bureau of Indian Standards & ABNT; MoU between Petrobras and ONGC-OVL; and MoU between Bharat Earth Movers and CCC.