Latin American Outsourcing Summit 14-15 April, Montevideo

The Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Outsourcing and Offshoring Summit aims at creating a space for outsourcing industry stakeholders in LAC to showcase their capabilities to the global market and identify the necessary steps the region must take to enable long-term growth and development in the industry. Hence, the goal of the Summit is to present an opportunity for buyers, suppliers, investors and Trade and Investment Promotion Organizations from LAC to learn about the current trends in the global Outsourcing and Offshoring Industry and identify the real world opportunities present for the region. More than 300 services companies from around the globe are expected to attend the Summit, including representatives from large service provider and investor nations such as India, the Philippines, the United States and Europe, plus delegates from the Trade and Investment Promotion Organizations from more than 15 LAC countries.

Speakers attending the event include:

Gigi Virata, Executive Director, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP)

Harsh Manglik, Chairman, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)

Michal Zálešák, Executive Director of Central and Eastern European Outsourcing Association (Czech ICT Alliance)

Joel Mari Yu, Managing Director, Cebu Investment and Promotion Center, Philippines

Antonio Gil, President, Brazilian Association of Information Technology and Communication Companies (BRASSCOM)

Anupam Prakash, Partner & Regional Leader - Cross Border Consulting, Mercer

Warren Gallant, President & Founder, Sourcing Board

Bobby Varanasi, Head of Marketing & Branding, Outsourcing Malaysia Executive Committee

Martín Migoya, CEO &Co-Founder, Globant (Argentina)



This is being organised by Inter American Devolpoment Bank in collaboration with private sector.

More info in: www.outsource2lac.com
contact imejiarivas@iadb.org.

Indian outsourcing companies are encouraged to participate in this summit.

Twenty Indian companies have established software development centres, BPOs, KPOs and Call Centres in ten countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala) of the region employing 18,000 Latin Americans. The Indian companies have developed a new near-shore business model of 12/12 in which they service their North American clients for 12 hours from the same time zone operations in Latin America and the remaining 12 hours from India. The Indian companies leverage the multilingual skills of Latin Americans who speak Spanish, Portuguese and Italian to service European clients. They use the Latin Americans to reach out to the 40 million strong Hispanic market of US. The Indian companies have also got contracts from local Latin American companies.

TCS is the pioneer and has the largest presence in the region with Global Delivery Centres in eight Latin American countries employing 7000 local staff in Chile (2000), Brazil (2000), Uruguay (900), Mexico (1000), Colombia (300), Argentina (300), Peru and Ecuador.

Among the others, the most notable is Aegis (part of Essar Group) which has 5000 staff in Argentina. It is the largest Indian BPO in Latin America.

Brazil plans 270 billion dollars investment in the mining sector

The Minister of Mines and Energy Edison Lobao announced on 8 february that Brazil would invest 270 billion dollars in the next two decades in the mining sector and triple the production of gold, iron and copper by 2030. As part of the new policy, the government will discourage exports of crude raw materials and encourage value addition. The plan document notes the concerns on excessive dependence on China and calls for diversification of markets. There will also be reforms in the mining laws.

The targets of production increase from 2008 to 2030 in million tons are as follows:

Iron ore 351 to 1098

Gold 55 to 200 ( not in million, of course)

Copper 216 to 1000

Alumina 7.8 to 25.7

Aluminium 1.6 to 3.2

Raw Steel 33.7 to 116

Nickel 25000 tons to 132,000 tons

The Mining investment plan is the third in the series of mega investment plans of Brazil. The first was the 220 billion dollar investment in petroleum sector and the second, an equal amount of investment in infrastructure including for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

Indian companies should target Brazil for projects and also for export of mining equipments and machinery.

Besides Brazil, they should focus on Peru, Colombia, Chile, Boilivia and Argentina which are also rich in mineral resources. Jindal, Aditya Birla group and Essar have already made entry into the region.

This week, Tega Industries Limited of Kolkatta announced acquisition of a Chilean company Acotec S.A. which is a $35 Mn company providing products and solutions for abrasion, corrosion and fluid transportation systems to the mining industry in Chile, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia.
Tega Industries specialises in mineral processing and material handling technlogies and equipments for the mining industry. It has global presence including in Brazil, USA, Australia and South Africa.

Will 2011 be the dawn of the Latin American decade ?

¨Will 2011 be the dawn of the Latin American decade ?¨ is the title of the webcast by Standard and Poors on 11 January 2011.

Joydeep Mukherji, Senior Director and Lisa Schineller, Director of Sovereign Ratings and Latin American Economist of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services have been interviewed in this 50 minute show

I liked it. My answer to the title of the show is,
Yes.. this is going to be the growth decade for the region, which had experienced a lost decade in the eighties.
I agree with the observations and conclusions of Joydeep, who despite his pasioncito ( little passion) for the region, is objective and balanced. I tend to see the half full..given my unbound passion.

Joydeep has said, ¨the elections in latin america have become boring ¨. This is great news. Boring means no turn to the opposite direction or drastic changes in policies when governments change. There is a growing consensus on major policies even when governments are formed by parties of different ideologies.

Following up on Joydeep´s statement I would say that even the economies of the region are becoming boring. No more hyperinflation, debt overburden or exchange rate volatility. No booms and busts. No more adventurous or experimental economic policies or IMF rescue operations. Macroeconomic indicators have become more stable and predictable. The policy makers are more disciplined and pragmatic ( exceptions are there !!). I like this boring situation and expect to see the economies becoming even more boring.

Here is the link to the webcast

http://mcgraw-hill.mediasite.com/mcgrawhill/Viewer/?peid=67e94c7ad8b141f79a7851084473cb0f

Entertainment is the latest business of India with Latin America

Images of Argentina will appear when Shahrukh Khan hosts the ¨ Wipe Out ¨( Zor ka Jhakta ) show from 1 to 16 February at 9 pm in the Indian TV Channel ¨Imagine¨. Before each episode, there will be videos of Argentina. Hmmm...Indians will be surprised by Sharukh Khan's Argentine connection. Here is the secret... All the 16 episodes of the show were shot in Buenos Aires. A team of 28 Indian TV film stars and celebrities and a supporting crew of 20 spent 40 days in Buenos Aires in December- January. The Indian cameramen were fascinated with the fantastic sceneries of the El Calafate Glacier and the Iguazu Waterfalls and could not stop shooting....

Another surprising Argentine connection...It is not only the images of Argentina which will be seen in India these days. The Indians have also started listening to the music composed by an Argentine in the Amir Khan film ¨Dhobi Ghat¨released on 21 January 2011. Yes...Gustavo Santaolalla, the music director of the film, is an Argentine. Gustavo is a pioneer in the rock music scene of Argentina in the late sixties and seventies. He later moved to Los Angeles and started working with Hollywood. He won two Oscar awards for his music in the films ¨Broke back mountain¨and ¨Babel¨.

The Director of the film Kiran Rao is visiting Argentina in March 2011 for the screening of her film at the Pinamar Film Festival.

These two are the latest examples of the exploration of Latin America by the Indian entertainment industry. The region has exotic and attractive locations for Indian film shootings. Dhoom II was shot in Rio and a scene for Robot was shot in Machu Pichu in which Rajnikant danced with Aishwar Rai. In August 2010 Priyanka Chopra was in Rio for shooting the show ¨Fear factor¨.

Latin America has also offered stars for Bollywood. Mexican actress Barbara Mori was the heroine with Hrithikesh Roshan in the film ¨Kites¨released in 2010. A Brazilian actress Giselle Monteiro has acted in the film Love aaj kal in a supporting role. Many in India thought she was an Indian because of her café con lech ( coffee with milk ) colour of the skin. The success of these two have given rise to a new category of Latin American visa applicants at the Indian embassies. Young boys and girls want to go to Bollywood and also for modelling in India.

Illusion Studios of Buenos Aires in technical collaboration with Toonz Animation Ltd of Trivandrum produced a cartoon film ¨Gaturro¨ which was a box office hit in Argentina in 2010.This is now being dubbed in English for the global audience. Gaturro is the product of Argentine humour and imagination combined with Indian software and technology. It is a 90 minute 3D animated cartoon film, the first-ever to be produced in Latin America.

Gaturro is a popular comic character created by the famous Argentine cartoonist Christian Dzwonik (Nik ). He has used Gaturro to make jokes on Argentine politics, society and everyday life. The Embassy of India organised a Children´s Festival with this film during the Festival of India in November 2010.

The prime time Brazilian soap opera ¨Camino das Indias¨ telecast for eight months in 2009 by the Brazilian TV network Globo was a huge hit. It was a story about India with Brazilian actors. It had a profound impact. The Brazilians have started greeting Indians with Namaste and taking them by surprise by asking if they are Brahmins or Dalits. The Girls from Ipanema are now putting bindis matching with their bikinis. Exports of Indian ethnic dress, decoration items and Ganesh idols have skyrocketed. The soap opera has been dubbed in Spanish and is being shown in the rest of Latin America.

Bollywood Dancing is the latest craze in Latin America. The Bollywood Dance shows in the last two Festivals of India in 2009 and 2010 in Buenos Aires were the top hits.

Latin Americans have started taking Indian films seriously and enjoying them. The video rental stores in Buenos Aires have a number of Bollywood films. The Indian Film shows during the last three Festivals of India attracted long queues of Argentines and the Embassy had to extend the film festivals for about a month. My biggest surprise was when the 13-year old Margarita, the daughter of the Argentine Patel ( see my blog on him ) who visited India with her parents recently, showed me proudly her two favourite DVDs: Three idiots and Water.... The facebook of the Embassy has messages from Argentine girls asking about Shah Rukh and Salman Khans.

An Argentine director Pablo Cesar is working on a coproduction film ¨Thinking of Him¨ based on the romantic story of Tagore´s encounter with Victoria O´Campo in Buenos Aires. He is looking for an Indian coproducer. This film would be one of the highlights of the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore being celebrated this year.

Samba and salsa, tango and carnival and the Latino way of having fun and fiestas have caught the imagination of Indians and especially the globalising IT generation. Salsa classes are proliferating in Indian cities along with spanish language institutes. On the other hand, the younger generation of the 530 million population of Latin America have started getting excited by the Bollywood films. My bet ...this blossoming mutual interest and excitement is a fantastic business opportunity for the Indian entertainment industry which is looking for new ideas, faces and shooting locations....

Latin America - India Investors Forum

This is being launched by LatinFinance,the Latin America focused subsidiary of Euromoney Institutional Investor, UK. It was founded over 20 years ago and is headquartered in Miami and New York. LatinFinance in addition to being a leading source of value added financial markets intelligence for Latin America and the Caribbean also runs a series of high-level international forums with the objective of exploring and promoting the relationships driving investment, finance and trade flows between Latin America and non-traditional capital providers globally. They had a series of successful events in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Moscow, Europe, Hong Kong and China.

The demand for commodities in Asia, especially India, has created a natural pipeline for Latin American and Indian companies to do business together. This in turn has led to the development of fascinating capital flows between the two regions. Additionally, our clients in Latin America have shown keen interest and enthusiasm in investing in India and therefore, keeping this synergy in mind, LatinFinance, have taken a strategic decision to launch the "Latin America India Investors forum" in India.

The Forum will seek to facilitate and advance the evolving strategic relationship between Indian and Latin American government, corporate and financial leaders. The decision to launch the event in India is two-fold: Firstly, to help develop the existing synergies between the two dynamic regions, and secondly, to educate their clients in Latin America on opportunities to do business in India and with Indian partners.

Mr. Stuart Allen, CEO, LatinFinance will be visiting India keeping this objective in mind. Mr. Allen's mission would be to meet companies in India active in Latin America region or wanting to explore newer markets for expansion of their businesses. The purpose of these meetings would be to seek guidance and advice for the proposed forum and explore synergies with LatinFinance and the proposed India event. Mr. Allen will be in Delhi on 14th and 15th February 2011 and in Mumbai on 17th and 18th February 2011. It will be his pleasure to meet with companies interested in exploring LatinFinance's objective and sharing their thoughts on this very interesting opportunity.

The meetings are being coordinated by Ms. Aarti Bhatnagar, Conference Programmer, LatinFinance. To coordinate meetings or for any further information, she can be contacted by phone at +1.305.428.6284 or by email at abhatnagar@latinfinance.com

Hola Business News - December 2010

Latin American GDP growth in 2010 exceeeds expectations
The GDP growth in 2010 is estimated to be six percent, according to the Annual Report on the region released by ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean of UN) last week. In its December 2009 report, ECLAC had projected 4.3% growth for 2010, revised this in July 2010 to 5.2% and now finally to six percent.

Welcome to the New Latin America which has started surprising experts positively.
Such a high growth coming after a GDP contraction of 1.9% in 2009 caused by the global economic and financial crisis of 2008-9 and in the backdrop of the crisis in Europe and uncertain outlook in USA is commendable. This shows the new resilience and strengthening internal fundamentals of Latin American markets. The main driver for the growth is domestic demand although South America has benefitted from high commodity prices and increase in exports to Asia.

Another surprise. The country which has the highest growth in 2010 is Paraguay with 9.7%. This is followed by Uruguay with 9%, Peru-8.6%, Argentina-8.4% and Brazil-7.7%. The four Mercosur countries are among the top five in the whole region. This reminds us of the World Cup 2010 when the four Mercosur countries reached the quarter finals.

South America has shown a growth of 6.6% despite the 1.6% GDP contraction of Venezuela ( which is an exception to the new paradigm of the region) this year. The only other country which sufffered negative growth this year is Haiti with 7%.

Mexico, the second largest market of the region has grown by 5.3% bouncing back from a 6.1% contraction in 2009. Central America has grown by 3.5% in 2010.

Unemployment rate in the region has come down to 7.6% from 8.2% in 2009. This is expected to decline further to 7.3% in 2011.

Inflation has gone up from 4.7% in 2009 to 6.2% in 2010. It should be noted that inflation is in single digit in all but two countries. Venezuela has not only the highest inflation ( 29%) in the region…but also in the world. Argentina also has a double digit inflation.

ECLAC has predicted 4.2% GDP growth for the region in 2011. Some country-wise projections for 2011 are: Haiti-9%, Panama-7.5%, Peru and Chile -6%,Argentina-4.8%, Brazil-4.6% and Mexico-3.5%.

One should not be surprised if the Latin American markets exceed these expectations again…

The growth in 2010 is not a one-off wonder. Except for 2009, the region has shown a new trend of consistent growth since 2003. The average growth in the last eight years is 4.2%. The highest growth was 6.1% in 2004.

According to another report, Latin America’s growth rate could outstrip the global average for the next seven years. This means the second decade of this century is going to be the growth decade even when there is talk of a ¨lost decade¨ in Europe. Some experts suggest that Europe should learn from Latin America which has bounced back from its own Lost Decade of the eighties and the debt crisis. There are no more IMF cases in Latin America. Brazil has become a net creditor to IMF now.

More cheerful news from some markets
Brazil has overtaken Germany as the fourth-biggest car market in the world with a 2010 sale of 3.45 million vehicles, 10 percent more than last year. There are now 30 million vehicles in Brazil which means there is one for every seven inhabitant of the 191 million population.

Brazil has discovered huge oil reserves with a potential to produce 5 million barrels per day. Argentina has discovered a large gas field in 2010. They are just starting the off-shore exploration. Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Cuba have intensified exploration. With these, Latin America is going to be an important source of oil and gas for the world.

In the case of renewable energy sector, Brazil is the leading exporter of fuel ethanol and Argentina is the largest exporter of biodiesel. Some other countries in the region are following their examples.
Latin American pharma market, which is worth 50 billion dollars and its imports of 10 bn $ are expected to increase in 2011 and coming years, especially in the generic sector.

Colombia is a hot destination for energy investment and Peru for mining.

Panama has got investment grade in 2010. The others who have already got are: Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru. Future candidates are Uruguay and Colombia.

Higher commodity prices and increase in demand have stimulated investment in mining and agribusiness. For example Vale, world’s largest iron-ore producer of Brazil is expected to invest $68 billion in 27 projects over the next five years. Peru is expecting 40 bn$ investment in the mining sector in the coming years.

Trade in 2010

Last year our trade with Latin America was 17.2 billion dollars. In 2010, it should cross 20 billion dollars. My next newsletter will have the trade figures for the whole year. Meanwhile here are some trade figures which will give an idea of the boom in our trade.
-India- Brazil bilateral trade in the period January- October 2010 reached a record 6.2 billion dollars. India´s exports- 3.4 bn and imports 2.8 bn
-India´s exports to Mexico in Jan-Sept 2010 jumped to 1227 million dollars from 850 million in the same period last year.
-India- Argentina trade reached a record 2.1 bn $ in jan-oct 2010 doubling from the 2009 figures. India´s exports increased from 374 m$ in the period Jan- Nov 2009 to 511 m $ in the same period in 2010.
- India´s exports to Colombia increased to 491 m$ in the period Jan- sept 2010 from 365m $ in the same period last year.
- India´s exports to peru in the period Jan- Oct 2010 were 410 m$ as against 263 m$ in the same period last year
- India´s exports to Chile were 301 m$ in Jan- oct 2010 as against 233 m$ in the same period last year.

Petroleum crude, soy oil and copper are the principal items of our imports. Latin America is becoming a significant source of crude oil for India. India imported around 300,000 barrels per day in the period jan- oct 2010.

Chemicals, pharmaceuticals,engineering products, textiles and diesel oil are our major exports.

Suggested Focus of exports in 2011

Indian companies need to target the small and medium countries for trade besides the large ones. Small countries does not mean small trade. Example ..China´s exports to Costa Rica were 767.1 million dollars and imports 711.6 million dollars in 2010. Chinese export to Costa Rica is double the export of India to Argentina.

Autoparts to Brazil is emerging as a growth area for India´s exports.

Exports of equipments and machinery for mining,oil and gas exploration and production and infrastructure projects in the region.

Because of the strong Real ( 1US$= 1.7 Reais) Brazilian exports have become less competitive and imports cheaper. Indian exporters should take advantage of this and intensify their exports to Brazil.

Major investment by Indian companies in Latin America in 2010

- Renuka sugars acquisition of two sugar groups in Brazil for 350 million$
-Godrej acquisition of 2 Argentine cosmetic cos for about 40 m$
- Aegis group (part of Essar) acquisition of Argentine BPO company Actionline which has 5000 staff. This is the largest Indian BPO in Latin America. With this, the number of Latin Americans working in Indian IT, BPO and KPO companies in the region has gone upto 17,000.

Suggestions for focus of Indian Companies in 2011

Investment in the mining sector in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Investment in agribusiness in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The Mercosur region has the potential to bring 100 million hectares of additional land for cultivation, increase agriproduction and become an agircultural super power. Indian companies can source soy and sunflower oil, sugar, ethanol and pulses through investment in the region

Investment in commercial forestry and paper pulp in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile and take back timber and paper pulp.

Establishment of IT, BPO and KPO operations in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and follow the new trend of Indian IT companies getting contracts from Latin American clients.

Acquisition of pharma companies in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico

Contracts, subcontracts and supply of equipments and materials to Brazil which is embarking on massive infrastructure development for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics

Contracts and supplies to the 224 billion dollar five year investment plan of Petrobras for exploration and production of off-shore oil. This is the largest corporate investment plan in the world at this moment.

Investment in the petroleum exploration and production sectors of Brazil,Colombia,Argentina. Colombia expects investment of 28 billion dollars in oil exploration and production in the next four years and increase the oil production to 1.4 million bpd by 2014 from 963,000 bpd in June 2010. Colombia is emerging as South America's third-largest oil producer behind Brazil and Venezuela.
Look at the Chinese companies who have spent $20 billion this year in the following deals:
CNOOC paid $3.1 billion for a 50% stake in Argentina’s Bridas Energy in March.
Sinochem Group, paid $3 billion to Statoil for 40% of its Brazilian offshore field, Peregrino, in May.
Sinopec, made a $7.1 billion investment into the Brazilian subsidiary of Repsol YPF in October.
CNOOC agreed to pay $7.06 billion for a 60% stake in Argentina’s Pan American Energy in November.
In addition, China has invested in Venezuela, which include
· 40% stake in Junin 4 block of Orinoco belt expected to produce 400,000 bpd
· Another 40% in Junin 1 with capacity to produce 200,000 bpd
· A refinery with capacity to process 200,000 bpd

Opening of more embassies

India has opened embassy in Guatemala-2010.

Costa Rica has opened embassy in New Delhi-2010

More embassies likely to be opened from both sides..

Presidential Elections in 2011

Peru – April
Nicaragua – June
Guatemala- September
Argentina – October

Forthcoming events in 2011

Rio Carnival 4-8 March
Made in India Exhibition of CII in Sao Paulo 8-11 March
What a coincidence ! Exihibitors can dance samba at the carnival in Rio and move on to Sao Paulo for the business…

Indo-LAC business conclave of CII in New Delhi, 24-25 February 2011. Mr Danilo Astori, Vice President of Uruguay expected to be the guest of honour.

Ongoing negotiations to expand and widen the India-Mercosur PTA . Indian companies, export promotion councils and trade and industry bodies should approach Commerce Ministry with their wish lists and contact Anil Mukhim JS a.mukim@nic.in

Business Plus

My favourite Latin American author Mario Vargas Llosa from Peru won the Nobel prize for literature in 2010. My blog on this..
http://latinamericanaffairs.blogspot.com/2010/10/mario-vargas-llosa-peruvian-nobel-prize.html#links

For those who want to understand the new Latin America I recommend the following two books:
- Brazil on the rise by Larry Rohter
- What if Latin America ruled the world by Oscar Guardiola Rivera

The Argentine film ¨The secret of your eyes¨ won the Oscar in 2010.

An Argentine musician Martin Felix Folatelli, living in Benares for the last several years is producing fusion music …Benares Milonga and Mate- Chai…

Latin America is the latest flavour in Bollywood.
Mexican actress Barbara Mori was the heroine with Hrithikesh Roshan in the film Kites released in 2010.
Dhoom II film and TV reality show ¨Fear factor¨ were shot in Rio de Janeiro.
Rajnikanth danced with Aishwar Rai in Machu Pichu (in Peru) for the film Robot.
A 28- member team of Indian TV stars are in Buenos Aires right now (staying here for 40 days) to shoot a reality show ¨Zor Ka Jhatka¨ (Wipe Out). This will be hosted by Shahrukh Khan in Imagine channel in January 2011.
The music director of Dhobi Ghat , the film directed by Kiran Rao and produced by Aamir Khan ( being released on 21 January) is an Argentine, Gustavo Santaolalla.
Giselle Monteiro, the Brazilian Bollywood actress of Love Aajkal fame is acting in another film ¨Always kabhi kabhi¨ being produced by Shah Rukh Khan
An Argentine- India coproduction film on Tagore and Victoria Ocampo is on the works and is likely to materialise in 2011.

Loca loca loca….

The most anticipated event in 2011…. Shakira´s tour of Latin America starting in March 2011 covering Argentina (Shakira´s boyfriend is Argentine..), Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, México, Paraguay, Perú, Puerto Rico, República Dominicana and Venezuela (with even more countries to be announced). The tour will be part of The Pop Festival, a brand new festival that will bring international music stars to Latin America, and which will also showcase the latest in contemporary art and technology. Here is her latest song to celebrate the new year..
Loca loca loca…. Loca means crazy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAhTt60W7qo

cheers….for more business and businessplus with Latin America in 2011…

Increasing reliance of Reliance Petroleum on Latin American crude oil

Reliance imported about 300,000 barrels a day of crude on average from Latin America during the first ten months of 2010. This accounted for about a quarter of the company’s total imports during the period, compared with 13 percent in the same period of 2009.

Reliance refinery complex in Jamnagar in Gujrat, India has refining capacity of 1.24 million barrels a day, the largest at a single location.

About two-thirds of Reliance’s imports from Latin America during the first 10 months of 2010 came from Venezuela which accounted for 59 percent, Mexico 21 percent and Brazil 14 percent.

Reliance is expected to increase crude imports from Latin America as it seeks better refining margins by processing heavier and cheaper grades of oil.

In 2009 Reliance bought 155,000 bpd from Latin America. This went up to 380,000 barrels a day in the first four months of 2010.

In dollar terms Reliance imports of crude oil from Latin America in 2010 ( Jan-Oct) are about 7.5 billion dollars and in 2009 imports were 4.2 billion dollars.

The crude oil imports of Reliance accounts for over forty percent of India´s imports from Latin America. Crude oil is the leading item of India´s imports from latin America.

Reliance´s export of diesel oil to Brazil in the period Jan-Oct 2010 was 1.4 billion dollars. This topped India´s exports to Brazil and constituted 41 percent of India´s exports to Brazil. In the same period Reliance imported 900 million dollars of crude oil from Brazil which accounted for 32 percent of India´s total imports from Brazil. Overlall, Reliance accounted for 30 percent of India´s trade with Brazil in the period Jan-Oct 2010.

Reliance is also investing in oil exploration in Colombia and Peru.

Brazilian Surya.. Argentine Satya .. and Latin American Karma

Exporting Henna to India from Brazil ?... It sounds as incredible as exporting Caipirinha ( the strong Brazilian alcoholic drink which makes you dance Samba after two glasses) to Brazil from India. Clélia Cecilia Angelon, the founder President of Surya Brasil dared to think outside the box and has exported Henna powder to India. She started off with a shop in Sao Paulo selling Henna powder formulated with raw materials imported from India. To make it look authentic she named her company Surya Henna. This gave a touch of Indian magic and appealed to the Brazilians who are fascinated by Indian yoga, meditation and spiritual gurus. During my stay in Sao Paulo I had the opportunity to interact with Clelia. Once I saw her stall in a Cosmetics Fair which drew large crowds with Brasilian beauties tattooed all over their bodies with henna. I realised then that India was not only touching the Brazilian soul but also gave a touch to their skin. The combination convinced me that it was going to be a winner in business and win-win for India and Brazil.

As the sales picked up, Clelia expanded the business into other haircolouring and cosmetic products and dreamed of going global. She changed the name of her company into Surya Brasil. The company started the Amazônia Preciosa Line, enriched with ingredients from the Amazon forest biodiversity. The turnover of the company has now reached twenty million dollars. Surya Brasil has established its niche in the market as a cosmetic producer with natural and organic ingredients and eco-friendly. The company is exporting to twenty countries including USA, Australia, UK and France.

In an audacious move, Surya Brasil decided to export its Henna products to India . The marketing team of Clelia thought this was like a Brazilian trying to teach an Indian Guru. How would the Indian consumers living with a long tradition of Henna accept a Brazilian Henna product? How could a Brazilian company find a place in the space crowded by so many Indian companies in their home market? Clelia would not take no for an answer. She opened an office in India in 2005 and sent a marketing executive Fernanda Drumond who spent four years understanding the Indian market. Fernanda who has now become the head of India operations has achieved sales of 1.5 million dollars and plans to double it this year. She has placed the products in beauty parlours and stores in shopping malls in the major cities. Now she is reaching out to the smaller towns and cities. Surya Brasil plans to start a factory in India from which it will export to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia and other Asian countries. They also plan to open an organic SPA in India like the one they have in Brazil.

Surya goes beyond Henna in its India connection. The company´s website says ¨Surya is guided by Ayurvedic principles: know and respect individuality; pursue well being and both emotional and physical balance. ¨ Surya also uses Amla as an ingredient in some of its products. The website of Surya has a section ¨moment of meditation ¨.

They say, behind every successful man there is a woman. The secret behind the success of Clelia is a man…..an Indian man. Raj Malhotra had employed Clelia as a salesperson in his shop in London. Raj could not resist the Brazilian charm. He left his wife and married Clelia. She became Clelia Malhotra. They had a daughter Vandana. Raj lived for some time in Sao Paulo. After a few years, Raj and Clelia got separated. Clelia had other men in her life thereafter including another Indian Kanwaljit Singh.

Clelia´s story reminds me of the other story of the Argentine woman Monica Socolowsky who was inspired by Saibaba and went into the Fashion business using Indian fabrics and designs. Monica is a staunch devotee of Saibaba and her company is called as Satya Fashion. Here is my blog on Monica http://latinamericanaffairs.blogspot.com/2009/03/from-faith-to-fashion-story-of-monica.html#links

So we have Surya in Brasil and Satya in Argentina. The other day I was asked in a TV interview,¨what is your Karma? ¨. I replied, ¨Latin America¨.

Aegis group of India acquires BPO firm in Argentina

Aegis of India has acquired Argentine BPO company Actionline from Young and Rubicam Inversiones Publicitárias, S.A. and its business partner.

Founded in 1994, Actionline is one of the largest BPOs in Argentina with about 5,000 associates, spread across seven centres in five cities and has a turnover of around $50 Million dollars per year. It is domestic market focussed, serving leading telecom, banking, insurance, and energy clients in the region. It has operations in Brazil and Chile also. Actionline has expanded at a healthy pace, registering a compounded annual growth rate of 65 per cent from 2003-2009. Actionline Argentina's senior management, lead by CEO Fernando Pedron will continue to spearhead the business.

Actionline has become the largest Indian BPO in Latin America

With this entry Aegis joins the other Indian companies which have BPOs in Argentina. These are TCS, Cognizant, Irevna, HCL, Global Sourcing Solutions, Cellent and other BPOs owned by Indians from USA. Aegis stands out , of course, as the largest among them.

Aegis is part of the 15 billion dollar Essar group of India. This is the 16th acquisition for Aegis over the last five years. It is one of the fastest growing BPO companies in the world. With workforce of 5,000 that Actionline has, Aegis' total headcount goes up to 47,000. The company has a target of 50,000 workforce and is looking to expand its footprint in various markets including America, Latin America, Africa and Middle East. Aegis serves more than 135 clients from 42 delivery centers with more than 39,000 employees across India, Philippines,United States, Costa Rica, New Zealand, SriLanka, Australia, Kenya and South Africa. In United States Aegis employs 4000 Americans.

The Essar Group is a multinational conglomerate and a leading player in the sectors of Steel, Oil & Gas, Power, Communications, Shipping Ports & Logistics, Construction and Minerals. With operations in more than 20 countries across five continents, the group employs 60,000 people, with revenues of about USD 15 billion. They have acquired a Canadian steel mill, a iron ore mine in Minnesota and a coal mine in USA for over two billion dollars. They have a project to build a Steel plant in Trinidad and Tobago with an investment of 1.5 billion dollars.

Mercosur ...GDP champion in 2010

Readers of my blogs will recall my euphoria and celebration when the four member countries of Mercosur reached the quarter finals of the 2010 World Cup.

Don’t ask me what happened afterwards. I had to drown my sorrow with lots of Brazilian Caipirinha and Brahma and Argentine Malbec.

Ask me now about the economy. Mercosur has emerged as the GDP growth champion in 2010. Brazil and Argentina will have 7.5% growth each, Paraguay will grow by 9% and Uruguay by 8.5%. These figures put the four Mercosur members among the top five in the whole region of Latin America and Caribbean.

The country which is projected to have the highest growth in Latin America and Caribbean in 2010 is… hold on… a surprise… even for me. It is Paraguay ...with 9%. Viva Paraguay !!!.

These are the figures mentioned in the World Economic Outlook report released by the International Monetary Fund on 6 October. According to this report, the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will grow by 5.7% in 2010. This is higher than earlier predictions. The IMF has said, ¨ the LAC region is exiting the global crisis at a faster pace than anticipated. This reflects solid macroeconomic policy fundamentals, sizeable policy support, favourable external financial conditions and strong commodity revenues¨.
The July 2010 report of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean( ECLAC) had predicted GDP growth of 5.2 % for the region while its December 2009 report had predicted 4.3%. Here is what ECLAC says in its September2010 report ¨Output and trade in Latin America and the Caribbean have recovered more quickly than expected. This solid revival is largely based on the dynamism of domestic demand, a pick-up in investment and robust exports driven by demand from China and the rest of Asia, and by the normalization of demand in the United States¨.
As part of the current fashion to group countries into G-20, G-8 etc, the IMF has labelled Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru as " LA-4 " This foursome's policy framework is described as more market-friendly than the others in the region.
"Impressive improvements in macroeconomic policy frameworks over the past two decades, combined with accommodative policies, easy external financing conditions, and strong commodity prices, are driving a robust recovery in the LA-4," the report said.

The IMF forecast of GDP growth for other countries and sub-regions are: Chile - 5 %, Peru- 8.3% Colombia - 4.7%, Mexico - 5%, Central America -3.1% and Caribbean 2.4%. South America is projected to grow by 6.3%. Of course, South America, which is rich in natural resources has benefitted from its commodity exports.
The only country in the region which has gone against the growth trend is Venezuela which faces an ecoonomic contraction of 1.3%. The consolation is that this is better than the contraction of 3.3% in 2009.

The IMF has projected that the average inflation of the region in 2010 would be 6.1% which is up slightly from 6% last year. The inflation in 2011 is projected to decline to 5.8%. The average inflation of the region has remained in single digit in the last ten years.

But again Venezuela is an exception. It has the highest inflation of 29.2% this year. This is said to be the highest in the world this year. Venezuela is projected to carry on this distinction in 2011 too with 32%. The only other country in the region with a double digit inflation is Argentina with 10.6%. But the good news is that these are just small double digits. The region will not go back to hyper inflation in four digits as it happened in some countries till 1990.

Brazil adds one more superlative....

Brazil,the largest market of Latin America is on a roll these days adding one superlative after another. Here is the latest one. Petrobras raised $70 billion in the world’s largest share sale last week. With this, Petrobras has become the fourth-biggest company in the world, behind Exxon Mobil , Apple and PetroChina . Petrobras now has a market value of $214 billion, which is more than that of Microsoft and Wal-Mart.

Sao Paulo which has been the financial capital of Latin America, has now become a super capital with this deal. It was with justifiable pride that President Lula said ¨It wasn’t in Frankfurt, it wasn’t in New York, it was in our Sao Paulo exchange that we carried out the biggest capitalization in the history of capitalism,”

Petrobras has budgetted $224 billion of spending over the next five years in exploration and production. This is the largest corporate investment plan in the world at this moment.

With this investment, Brazil aims to increase its production to 5.38 million barrels a day and overtake Venezuela and Mexico. Brazil will add the most oil production of any country outside of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC) over the next 25 years

Petroleum is only one part of the story. Brazil is all set to become an agricultural superpower too. It has the largest surplus land that can be brought under cultivation to feed the growing population of the world. It can add atleast 130 million hectares of land which is equal to the total area cultivated by India to feed its one billion population.

Here is the leadership position of Brazil in the global food sector:
Chickens: 1st in the world, 41% of export market share

Coffee: 1st in the world, 27% of export market

Orange juice: 1st in the world, 82% of export market

Soybeans: 1st in the world, 38% of export market

Beef: 1st in the world, 26% of export market

Sugar: 1st in the world, 39% of export market

Ethanol: 1st in the world, 52% of export market

Tobacco: 2nd in the world, 17% of export market

Bananas: 2nd in the world, behind India

Pork: 3rd in the world, 15% of export market

Corn: 3rd in the world (behind USA and Argentina)

Black pepper: 3rd in the world (behind Vietnam and Indonesia)

Cotton: 5th in the world (USA is the leader)

Brazil is a pioneer and global leader in fuel ethanol. Most of the cars produced in Brazil have flexifuel engines which can use etahnol or/and petrol. Brazil is thus straddling the two worlds of conventional fuels and biofuels. Brazil has a secure and enviable position in the world which is increasingly concerned with food and energy security.

Brazil has plenty of water resources and the largest forest cover in the world. It is not prone to natural disasters. It has a agreeable climate and does not suffer from extreme heat or cold.

Brazil is embarking on massive investment to prepare for the World Cup football in 2014 and Olympics in 2016.

Brazil which used to be an IMF case is now a net creditor to IMF. Brazilian market now has Investment Grade rating.

Here are the other factors which distinguishes it from the other members of BRIC.

- Democracy has been instituitionalised irreversibly and strongly

- free from terrorism .. no ethnic , linguistic or religious conflicts. One language, religion and one skin colour of cafe con leite ( coffee with milk- some have more milk ...others have less..)

- free from unstable and evil neighbours who can pull it down and hurt.

Skeptics used to say Brazil was always a country with a future and will remain as a country with future. It was also called as a sleeping giant. But now Brazil has become a country of the ¨present¨and a giant who has woken up. What makes the Brazil story different this time is the paradigm shift in the politics and mindset of the Brazilians. Brazil follows a new pragmatic policy which pleases the Wall Street and at the same time has brought hope and smiles in the Favelas ( slums) with its Inclusive Agenda and market- friendly policies. This is what makes Brazil as the moral leader and role model for Latin America. Brazilians now have a strong conviction that their time has come…..

pharmaceutical market of Central America

The pharma sales of the seven countries of central america are expected to reach US$2.53bn in 2010, a 7.9% increase from US$2.35bn in 2009. The sales are expected to maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6% over a five-year period, and 8.4% over a ten-year period. The pharmaceutical sales are expected to reach US$5.27bn by 2019. This is according to a report of CompaniesandMarkets.com
For more info on the Central America Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q4 2010: http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/r.ashx?id=852G62254342128&prk=dc9464d426ba854d3af301ceab8fa0e4