Expanding cooperation, India, Brazil target $15 billion in trade by 2022

Hit by economic slowdown, India and Brazil on Saturday drew up an ambitious plan to boost their stuttering economies by expanding cooperation in oil, gas and minerals sectors, and set a target of USD 15 billion in bilateral trade by 2022.

The decisions were taken during wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro here.

On Brazil approaching the WTO against India for extending support to sugarcane growers, sources said it was agreed to address the issue through bilateral consultations.

The two leaders recognised that there were great synergies between India and Brazil, the two large economies with a combines GDP of around USD 4.5 trillion and having a total population of 1.5 billion.

The volume of bilateral trade in 2018-10 was USD 8.2 billion which included USD 3.8 billion worth of Indian exports to Brazil and USD 4.4 million as imports by India.

The two sides inked an investment cooperation and facilitation treaty providing for a framework to increase trade and investment in high growth areas. A separate pact was inked for cooperation in the field of oil and natural gas while another one was sealed in the bioenergy sector.

The areas identified for expansion of cooperation included oil and gas, agriculture, bio-fuels, animal husbandry, health and science and technology.

"The two sides also agreed to set a target of USD 15 billion in bilateral trade by 2022 given the complementarities between the two economies," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

He said the two leaders recognized agriculture to be a key focus area for bilateral cooperation and important part of both economies.

In the field of bio-fuels, an MoU on cooperation in bioenergy was signed between two countries.

"Both Modi and Bolsonaro agreed that the two countries could collaborate in the field of ethanol production. Given that Brazil is a leader in this field, they would share state of art technology with India in this sector. Prime Minister Modi stated that this would serve India's developmental goals," Kumar said.

The two sides also agreed to cooperate in the field of animal husbandry.

Recognizing the common genetic heritage in cattle, Kumar said both the countries agreed to collaborate in assisted reproductive technology that is expected to help increase dairy production in India.

"In this context, both sides welcomed the decision to set up a Centre of Excellence in Cattle Genomics in India with Brazilian assistance," he said.