India and Brazil: opportunities for a common growth path

Economic-political relations between India and Brazil opportunity enjoy excellent health. The two countries, in addition to boasting a long tradition of trade and economic cooperation dating as far back as the 17th century, now share a path of strong growth and have a common vision in relation to the new economic and geopolitical dynamics that are changing and reshaping global scenarios and balances.

At present, India and Brazil rank among the world's largest and most important democracies and are the leading economies in their respective macro-areas, SAARC and MERCOSUR, as well as their natural gateway; the run-up to the most advanced Western economies has long since begun, and Brazil and India represent the world's sixth and eleventh largest economies, respectively, jointly contributing about 8.5% of global GDP.

Trade and investment flows between the two countries have grown tremendously over the past decade, reaching US$9.2 billion in 2011.Specifically, Indian imports from Brazil stood at around US$3.2 billion, while exports from India reached US$6 billion. Of particular interest is the figure for Indian exports, which grew by 43% in 2011, compared to 2010.

Further impetus to strengthen bilateral relations was given during the last BRICS countries' summit, held last March in New Delhi: on that occasion, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, signed important trade cooperation agreements on scientific, technological and biotechnological innovation, with the aim of diversifying their trade portfolios and reaching a record USD 15 billion by 2015, as far as bilateral trade is concerned.
Following Rousseff's own proposal aimed at even closer cooperation between the two countries, a subsequent meeting was held last June in Brasilia between Anand Sharma, India's Minister of Trade and Industry, and Fernando Pimentel, Brazil's Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. The two countries agreed on the creation of a working group in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors, and also addressed the importance of an India-Brazil CEOs Forum, which might be able to implement the two countries' business initiatives. India, during the Brasilia meeting, also encouraged Brazilian companies to invest in the infrastructure and food processing sectors.

Such strong trade cooperation is favored by the complementarities of the two economies and the benefits that can accrue to both: Brazil has a huge variety of natural resources (agricultural products, forest resources, and mineral resources), and India is a major consumer of these types of commodities, which are necessary to stimulate its industrial growth; in the services sector, India has emerged as a veritable powerhouse in the software and knowledge-based industry, and Brazilian companies intend to take advantage of this expertise; India needs to increase its agricultural production, and to achieve full modernization in the sector, it can take a cue from the tremendous progress made by Brazil, which has succeeded in stimulating the development of small farms through innovative payment methods.

Brazil also needs to address the issue of housing for the weaker segments of the population. Brazilian statistics speak of a shortfall of 23 million houses for low-income families over the next 20 years.In this regard, India has more experience in this particular area, and interesting partnerships could be created between Brazilian companies and Indian counterparts aimed at solving this problem by ensuring affordable housing.

India and Brazil have immense potential in a variety of sectors such as agriculture, defense, minerals, energy, science, space, technology, education, health and welfare: the attractiveness and similarities of these markets can therefore increase Business and trade cooperation opportunities for companies intent on internationalizing.

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