Wednesday, April 18, 2007

BRICs Business Alliance- by Assocham



Assocham ( Associated chamber of Commerce ) organised an event today at their Hqrs in New Delhi to launch this new initiative. The presentation by the representative of Goldman Sachs on the BRICs( Brazil, Russia , India and China) was music to our ears. India would become the third largest economy of the world by 2030 and overtake that of USA by 2040. There were presentations by the embassies of Brazil, Russia and China. Mr Shashank, former Foreign Secretary, the mover behind this new alliance and past president of Assocham Mr Anil Agarwal spoke.

In my talk about Brazil I said
- History and God have been kind to Brazil. In the last 180 yrs of history, India was under colonial rule until 1947 and Russia and China had undergone historic and sytemic changes but Brazil had an undisturbed continuity since its independence in 1825. Unlike the RIC countries, Brazil has not been in any war or seen bloodshed in the last 130 years.. Despite borders with 10 countries, Brazil has not inherited any border disputes.
- God has blessed Brazil with large fertile tracts of land, water and natural and mineral resources and a pleasant climate.
- Brazil has one religion and one language and no probelms of diversity

On the above historical and god-given heritage, Brazilians have now built " man- made fundamentals" which have postioned Brasil for a sustained longterm growth. These are
- irreversible instituitionalisation of democracy and stable, mature and pragmatic polity. In the absence of extremist parties and in the context of inevitable coalition governments in the future,there will be consensual and moderate policies without any radical turns.
- They have decisively overcome the triple curses of inflation, exchange rate- currency and external debt. Macroeconomic fundamentals and the new mindset are healthy and sound.
- Brazil is emerging as an agricultural superpower and can add another 100 million hectares of land besides the 40 million hectares currently being cultivated.
- Brazil is globally leveraging its domestic success of fuel ethanol proramme and has the potential to become a "saudi arabia of ethanol" in the coming years.
- Brazil has become a regional leader of south america through regional integration and a platform for business in the region.

I bet my money on Goldman Sachs report on Brazil and the BRICs.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

outcome of visit of Brazilian and Cuban Foreign Ministers 10-13 April

During the visit of Cuban foreign minister 10- 11 April, the Government of India announced the waiver of Cuban debt of 62 million dollars. The principal amount is 29 million dollars and interest accumulated since 1990 was 33 million dollars. Since this issue has now been resolved, trade can be resumed now. Cubans are interested in import of pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and industrial products.

In the Indo- Brazil Joint Commission meeting 12-13 April, a trade target of 10 billion dollars was fixed for 2010. A large Brazilian business delegation will visit India in the first week of June 2007. A Indo-Brazil CEO Forum will be launched soon.

There are opportunities for Indian companies to do railway projects in Brazil and supply locomotives and wagons.
Brazilian infrastucture companies are interested in entry into India.

Friday, April 13, 2007

i- Flex planning a regional centre in Santiago, Chile

This follows the example set by TCS which set up a regional centre in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Indian IT solutions provider i-flex has presented Chile's state development agency Corfo with a request to start a joint feasibility study on a regional development and support center in the country.

The idea was first announced in January after a group of executives and authorities from Chile's private and public sectors visited India to meet with large IT firms to promote the country as a location from where to export services to the rest of Latin America.
The feasibility study is to be ready this month, and to make a final decision one or two months later. The study would include recommendations on installing a facility of this kind in the country, compliances, tax issues and work permits in case there is a need to bring in foreign experts.
Four banks in Chile are already using i-Flex products in their core transformation.

Currently, i-flex operates 14 development centers across India, Singapore and the US. The company posted net profits of US$49.2mn for the fiscal year ending March 2006, on revenues of US$334mn. Latin America accounted for 1% of sales.

Latin America represents 4-5% of global revenues and is set to continue growing 60-70% a year.

Friday, April 06, 2007

visit of Brazilian business delegation 11-13 April 2007

A eleven member business delegation is accompanying the foreign minister.
CII organising a meeting on 13 April afternoon
contact k.v.vidya@ciionline.org at CII
The Brazilian embassy could also be contacted.

Members of the delegation are:

1) DALMO DOS SANTOS MARCHETTI
DIRECTOR, Department of Transport & Logistics (Infrastructure)
NATIONAL BANK FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - BNDES
TEL: (21) 2172-8044
FAX: (21) 2220-6433
E-mail: dmarchet@bndes.gov.br

2) LEONARDO ANANDA GOMES
DIRECTOR VICE-PRESIDENT
Indo-Brazilian CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND FARMING
TEL: (31) 3264-5444
E-MAIL: leonardo@indiabrazilchamber.org

3) MAURO SEABRA FEDERICI
EXECUTIVE MANAGER IN NEW DELHI
Indo-Brazilian CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND FARMING
TEL: (31) 3264-5444
E-MAIL: federici@indiabrazilchamber.org

4) CAROLINA CHRISTO DE G. SIMÕES
COORDINATOR OF MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Indo-Brazilian CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND FARMING
TEL: (31) 3264-5444
E-MAIL: carolina@indiabrazilchamber.org

5) PAULO GILBERTO FERNANDES TIGRE
VICE-PRESIDENT, Confederation of NATIONAL INDUSTRY
PRESIDENT, FEDERATION of Industries of THE STATE OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL - FIERGS
TEL: (51) 3347-8711 / 8712
FAX (61) 3347-8789
E-MAIL: presidente@fiergs.org.br

6) SERGIO BELLATO ALVES
DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, Defence MARKET AND GOVERNMENT, ASIA-OCEANIA
EMBRAER
Tel: (12) 3927-3912
Fax: (12) 3927-1090
E-mail: sergio.bellato@embraer.com.br



7) TARCÍSIO TAKASHI MUTA
DIRECTOR-PRESIDENT
Foundation for Application of CRITICAL TECHNOLOGIES - ATECH
Tel: (11) 3040-7301
Fax: (11) 3040-7400
E-mail: takashi@atech.br / delfim@atech.br / atech@atech.br / pettena@atech.br

8) FLAVIO MACHADO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS
Andrade Gutierrez Constructions
Tel: (61) 3424-3333
Fax: (61) 3424-3332
E-mail: ana.moreira@agnet.com.br / flavio.machado@agnet.com.br

9) ANTONIO CARLOS PORTUGAL
SUPERINTENDENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
CAMARGO CORRÊA CONSTRUCTIONS AND TRADE
Tel: (61) 3212-3106/ 3212-3100
Fax: (61) 3212-3117
E-mail: mbetania@camargocorrea.com.br

10) ALFRED SZWARC
CONSULTANT
UNICA – Sao Paulo Sugar Cane Agroindustry Union
Tel: (11) 3812-2100 / 1416
Fax: (11) 3812-3298
E-mail: alfreds@terra.com.br

11) FERNANDO AUGUSTO MOREIRA RIBEIRO
GENERAL SECRETARY
UNICA – Sao Paulo Sugar Cane Agroindustry Union
Tel: (11) 3812-2100 /1416
Fax: (11) 3812-3298
E-mail: fernando@unica.com.br