BRASILIA: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday spoke strongly in favour of the newly emerging trilateral cooperation between India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA), saying all three countries stand to benefit from it in working for their energy security, creating synergies in trade and technology and in enhanced transport connectivity.

In remarks at the first meeting of the heads of state/governments with CEOs from the three countries who are also meeting in this Brazilian capital, the prime minister said: "The success of our experiment to pursue development within the framework of an open economy and an open society is vital to the well being and empowerment of millions of people in Asia, Africa and Latin America."

He said the advantages of such trilateral cooperation are evident, particularly in the areas of energy security.

"Brazil is a world leader in the use of ethanol. South Africa has coal gasification technology and a well-developed synthetic fuel industry. India, on the other hand, has expertise in wind and solar energy. IBSA can be effective in utilising our respective competitive strengths in these alternate energy technologies," the prime minister stated.

He said the three countries should pursue the target of $10 billion in intra-IBSA trade that was set in 2004, soon after the three rising powers of the three continents decided to set up their unique grouping in 2003.

Manmohan Singh said India was in discussions on a possible trade arrangement that would link with MERCOSUR (the South American trade grouping) and the Southern African Customs Union.

"We expect this would create a large and expanding economic space that would allow the utilisation of synergies in trade and technology."

Besides trade liberalisation, we also plan to institute arrangements that would address issues relating to the facilitation of trade in goods, services and of investment, he said.

According to him, India would be ready to take "bold decisions" to establish better connectivity between the three countries so that trade, tourism and other interaction between the three can be enhanced.

Manmohan Singh asked businesses and governments in all three countries to work together to fully exploit the potential of IBSA, saying the emerging partnership "illustrates the global village in which we live together today".

Others present at the summit were Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, South African President Thabo Mbeki as well CEOs and captain of industry from the three countries.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed