India and Brazil have set an ambitious bilateral trade target of $ 10 billion by 2010, during Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s visit to India.

India’s Commerce Minister Kamal Nath told a business seminar in New Delhi, on June 4, 2007, that two-way trade between India and Brazil had increased from $ 488 million in 2000 to $ 2.4 billion in 2006. “Now we wish to raise it to $ 10 billion in the next three years.”

The Brazilian president emphasised the importance of India and Brazil in the new economic world order. If India and Brazil came together in the WTO, he said, there was no way the developed world could ignore the G20 group of developing countries that was formed to ensure that the development agenda of the Doha Round was adhered to.

He said changes in the last few years had ensured that the US and EU did not remain a reference point for the global trade regime. India and Brazil have emerged as the strong voice of developing nations in the trade negotiations.

To stimulate trade and investment between the two countries a CEOs Forum was also launched. To achieve the new trade target “we must diversify trade which is restricted to less-value-added products,” Lula da Silva said.

He identified bio-fuels and pharmaceuticals as key areas for trade. Brazil is the largest producer of ethanol, at 16 billion litres a year. It can transfer bio-fuel technology to India, which can generate jobs in rural areas, Lula da Silva said. In turn, India can contribute to the pharmaceuticals sector. Both countries can contribute in the engineering sector.