Rediscovering India-Brazil Investment and Trade Ties to start a New Phase

Brazilian delegation to Mumbai was on a mission to explore new vistas for trade, commerce and investment.

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, October 18, 2016: “Brazil’s trade with India has immense scope for expansion which currently accounts for 1.21% of India’s total trade. The total trade between India and Brazil is at USD 6.69 billion in 2015-16. The market opportunities exist in the areas of food and drinks (coffee, tea, fruits, cocoa, and confectionary products), home and building (woods), machinery and equipment (vehicles and auto parts), mineral products and chemicals. Brazil has recently launched a new infrastructure Program, ‘Crescer’ (meaning ‘grow’) which will focus on concession, privatization and public-private partnerships, Brazil and India should rather look for complementarities and synergies between their respective markets and mind-sets in order to increase and upgrade their business potential. For more business to take place there should be more people to people exchanges. I am a strong believer of people-to-people relations to cement long-term and sustainable partnerships”, said Ms. Rosimar da Silva Suzano, Consul General, Consulate General of Brazil in Mumbai at the International Business Round Table organized by World Trade Centre Mumbai, All India Association of Industries, ApexBrasil and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Brazil at the World Trade Centre Mumbai.

Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, India is undergoing a series of reforms that are in the process of enhancing the competitiveness of the country.

Introducing the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Mr. Gajanan Patil, General Manager-Marketing said, “MIDC is the largest industrial development corporation in India having 264 industrial parks and approximately 73,000 hectares of land. Maharashtra attracts 29 percent (1/3rd) of the FDI that flow into India and accounts for a total of 14 percent of India’s GDP”. Highlighting the importance of MIDC, he said that with a diversified portfolio MIDC is a one-stop shop for setting and selling industries in Maharashtra.

With fiscal and non-fiscal incentives provided by MIDC and with progressive initiatives aimed at improving business environment, mega and ultra mega projects are being set up with the support of MAITRI, a single-window clearing system. The on-going projects of MIDC are AURIC City (DMIC Node in Maharashtra) which covers Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Area in Aurangabad district and Dighi Port Industrial Area in Raigad district by adopting smart city concepts. Some of the marquee projects include Navi Mumbai Airport, Pune Metro Rail Project, Nagpur Metro Rail Project, Mumbai Trans Harbour Link and Multimodal International Passenger and Cargo Hub Airport, International Financial Services Center and development of Naina, a new city. The recent investments in the DMIC project were from Foxconn (Rs32,250 Cr - $5 billion), General Motors (Rs 6,400 crore) and  POSCO (Rs 20,000 crore).

Ms. Lara Gurgel, representing Apex-Brasil, the trade promotion agency in Brazil, said that Apex-Brasil supported 80 sectors of the Brazil economy, agriculture being one of the main sectors. The main objective of the trade investment agency is to provide exchange of information between countries through the support of the local facilitators such as the consulate and local trade promotion bodies. She introduced all the companies on the delegation that were looking forward to the business-to-business meetings, thereafter. Ms Gugel explained that the delegation visit to Mumbai was part of the follow-up to the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai and President, All India Association of Industries said, “India and Brazil share a special relationship and tremendous opportunities lie between them especially in natural resources, besides traditional areas such as agriculture, food processing, oil & gas, mining, textile, spinning etc. With the successful conclusion of the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa, member countries should work towards the success of BRICS.  Currently India is growing at a rate of 7.6 percent and aiming to increase 8-10 percent which is possible first and foremost by providing concession in freight costs. Secondly, rather than taking the whole spectrum of sectors we should focus on five major areas of collaboration. One such sector is technology which India requires and can be fulfilled through collaborative efforts with Brazil. In conclusion, Mr. Kalantri emphasized that India has a demographic dividend of 1.2 billion population with a huge segment of youth under the age of 35. We are a consumer market and Brazil must explore various business and trade opportunities with India, Mr. Kalantri stressed.