Press Release

EAM’s meeting with Business Community at Sao Paulo (Brazil)

31/08/2009

During his ongoing visit to Brazil from August 30 – September 1, 2009, External Affairs Minister Shri S.M.Krishna had an hour-long interaction with representatives of Indian and Brazilian business community in Sao Paulo on 30 August 09.

Among the prominent members of the Brazilian business community present were the President of the India-Brazil Chamber of Commerce, Mr Roberto Paranhos do Rio Branco, as well as representatives of IT firm Stefanini and Banking automation firm ATP. Among the prominent Indian companies present were TCS, Reliance and Ranbaxy, besides representatives of trading, textile and hospitality sectors. The discussions included a broad overview of opportunities for Indian companies in Brazil including in the field of pharmaceuticals (Indian exports are currently US$ 600 million), IT, engineering (L&T has received a major order from Petrobras), petroleum (OVL’s stake in exploratory blocks) and agri-products. Investments by Brazilian companies in India include electrical sector (Weg), steel sector (Gerdau), bus building (Marcopolo) and IT (Stefanini).

Complementarities between India and Brazil were outlined. These are in the fields of agriculture - sugar and ethanol; automobiles and autoparts; electrical; iron and steel; cellulose; wood pulp; food processing and banking. Procedural bottlenecks hampering trade and investments were also mentioned by the participants, including credit availability and civil aviation links.

Summing up the discussion, External Affairs Minister noted Brazil’s steady growth and the commonality between Indian and Brazilian growth models. He emphasized that both countries could learn from each others experiences. He noted the need for closer interaction between the CEOs of leading companies from both countries.

New Delhi
August 31, 2009