David Masango and Sholain Govender
17 October 2007
The leaders of three of the developing world's most influential nations have committed to increasing trilateral trade to more than US$15-billion by 2010, while challenging business players to be more ambitious and actually exceed that target.
President Thabo Mbeki, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Brazil's President Lula da Silva met in Pretoria this week for the second annual India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit, to promote trade and investment and discuss a wide range of issues.
These ranged from cooperation aimed at poverty eradication and development, further enhancing political and trade relations amongst the three countries and developments with regard to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations and the conclusion of the Doha Development Round.
The leaders also received reports from representatives of the various IBSA working groups including business, academics, the Parliamentary forum, civil society forum and the women's forum.
Addressing the media, Mbeki said the leaders concurred that the meeting was a successful one, with the three countries signing several agreements that further consolidate trilateral cooperation. Decisions taken at the summit collectively form the Tshwane IBSA Summit Declaration.
The three countries signed new agreements on cultural cooperation, cooperation in health and medicine, and memoranda of understanding on social issues, higher education, tax administration and wind resources.They also supported the establishment of two additional working groups on human settlement development and on environmental and climate change.
"We were pleased to listen to the various working groups and we are impressed with the work that is being done," Mbeki said.
He added that IBSA would be used to promote the causes of developing countries, such as demanding for the abolition of agricultural subsidies being given to farmers in developed countries and calling for fairer trade agreements during global trade negotiations.
The three leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the envisaged India-Mercosur- (Southern Common Market) Sacu (Southern African Customs Union) Trilateral Free Trade Area.
Pooling resources
Mbeki further highlighted the IBSA Fund, to which each member state contributes US$1-million dollars annually. The fund, he said, was meant to assist poorer developing countries, such as the recent assistance given to Guinea-Bissau.
Singh expressed happiness at the success of the meeting, which he said was constructive and deliberated on how the three countries could pool their resources for the collective benefit. He added that discussions "showed there was a convergence of views" in many areas.
He said one such similarity was in the way in which each of the three countries had to come up with creative social development initiatives to uplift the lives of its people.
For his part, Da Silva said the future success of agreements signed at this summit would be due to the political and ideological symmetry of the three countries, and expressed his confidence in the three countries being able to "do much more" than what they had already achieved.
SAinfo reporter and BuaNews
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