India, Brazil set target of USD 15 bn trade by 2022

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Monday hoped that as Brazil is one of the most important trading partners of India in the entire LAC (Latin America and Caribbean) region, trade between the two countries will grow to USD 15 billion by 2022.

"The visit of the Brazilian President Bolsonaro, is a sign of the growing importance of the India-Brazil bilateral partnership," said Goyal, during his address at the inaugural session of the India-Brazil Business Forum held here.

"The 15 MoUs signed during the visit of the President of Brazil shows the power of democracy, demography, leadership, the talent pool available in India, India's market and the aspirations of one billion Indian citizens for a better life," he said.

"The MoUs of cooperation that has been signed during the presidential visit on investments, trade facilitation, social security, agriculture, defence and double taxation makes this the most productive visit by a Brazilian Head of State," Goyal further said.

Goyal, who also holds the portfolio of railways ministry, hoped that investments will also grow in the sectors of clean energy, startups, railways and creation of value chains between India and Brazil where goods may be semi-assembled in one country and finished in another.

Goyal informed that the entire Indian Railways will be fully electrified by 2024 and the railway network in India will run completely on clean energy with zero-emission by 2030.

The minister also urged that the India-Brazil Business Leader's Forum may be activated and reconstituted to make it more relevant and contemporary to businesses in both countries.

Goyal also hoped that India's services in the wellness sector like yoga and ayurveda will further grow as Brazil has a strong community of yoga and ayurveda practitioners.

Brazil has an association of Ayurveda (ABRA), a non-profit association with offices in nine states of Brazil and members all over Brazil and the Third International Congress on Ayurveda was held from March 12 to 15, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro.

The conference saw the participation of more than 4,000 delegates, including many from India.

India and Brazil share a close relationship at the bilateral level as well as plurilateral fora like BRICS, BASIC, G-20, IBSA, International Solar Alliance (ISA) and in larger multilateral bodies like UN, UNESCO and WIPO, Goyal said.

He further said that the decade-long bilateral strategic partnership is based on a common global vision shared democratic values and a commitment to foster economic growth with social inclusion for the welfare of the people of both countries.