India-Brazil trade could reach $10bn

Bilateral trade between Brazil and India could grow from $7.73bn in 2010 to $10bn in the next couple of years, technology being a key sector driving the increase.

Indian commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma made the predictions during a meeting with Brazilian external relations minister Antonio Patriota in New Delhi last weekend, where ways to enhance collaboration were discussed.

According to Sharma, there is a “huge potential” for further cooperation between the two countries in core sectors such as IT, as well as engineering, infrastructure, oil and nuclear power.

The Indian minister also put forward a proposal for an event aimed at facilitating networking and discussion of potential opportunities around trade and investment.

Despite the fact that it is still a proposal, the event, dubbed “India Show”, would take place in São Paulo this month according to an official statement about the meeting issued by the Indian press information bureau.

During the meeting, a bilateral air services agreement was also signed, to improve air connectivity between the two countries.

Some issues were also raised during the meeting: India is not happy about the imposition of anti-dumping duty on some of its products such as jute bags and PET films. Flexibility in business visas was another problem mentioned by Sharma.

Image by Peter Davis used under Creative Commons