ISDS Case Map
India
The center of gravity of the world economy was shifting to South Asia but opportunities of this regional dynamism could only be harnessed if the region integrated.
Does a trade agreement between India, Brazil and South Africa make economic sense? They are geographically apart, are all labour-abundant developing countries without clear gains from trade, and it's unclear the agreement will result in trade creation and increased welfare.
Indian, Brazilian, and South African business leaders have identified key issues that have to be addressed to allow the more rapid development of broader and deeper economic relations between the three countries.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday spoke strongly in favour of the newly emerging trilateral co-operation 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.
President Thabo Mbeki says IBSA's (India-Brazil-South Africa's) time has arrived to make a mark on world trade. He was addressing the IBSA summit in Brazil and called on developing nations to form strong partnerships and strategic alliances in the wake of the recent collapse of the Doha round of trade talks.
The Prime Minister of India, H.E. Manmohan Singh, the President of Brazil, H.E. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the President of South Africa, H.E. Thabo Mbeki, expressed their full support and commitment to the expeditious establishment of the Working Group to focus on the modalities for the envisaged India-Mercosur-SACU Trilateral Free Trade Agreement (T-FTA).
IBSA will be a powerful bloc in south-south cooperation with echoes of ‘non-alignment' in earlier times but from the economic point of view, IBSA is a little fictitious” was Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh's reported take on this regional formation that includes India-Brazil-South Africa just ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Brazil and Cuba to attend an IBSA and NAM summit.
Asean has come up with a composite negative list of 600 products for the proposed Indo-Asean free trade agreement.
Mauritius expects to sign trade deals with India and Pakistan in October and November, according to minutes of a cabinet meeting seen yesterday.
A high level team of Indian trade officials will arrive in Sri Lanka next week to finalise the quotas for cooking oil and bakery shortening exported from Sri Lanka to India, says the Secretary to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Trade, R.M.K. Rathnayaka.
