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Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's economic diplomacy is taking new wings, here's more cheering news. Trade between India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) is set to touch $10 billion (Rs 47,000 crore) in 2007, an UNCTAD study has indicated. From a mere $200 million in 1998, Indo-Brazil trade touched $2.5 billion in 2005 and is expected to be $3 billion in 2006. India-South Africa trade similarly has grown to $4 billion in 2005. In the face of mounting pressures to develop an alternative option to globalisation - one that emerges from a developing world perspective and prioritises equal advancement, technological cooperation, and an end to global marginalisation of the poor nations - there has been a new push to redefine political and economic arrangements springing from Bretton Woods. One component of these many recent initiatives is the idea of south-south cooperation. The foundation for this was set when the leaders of three regional goliaths, India's Vajpayee, Brazil's Lula, and South Africa's Mbeki spearheaded a new approach to south-south cooperation at the 2003 UN General Assembly Forum, resulting in a trilateral India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) agreement. Recently Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Thabo Mbeki have signed a sweeping pact to cement ties between the regional powerhouses which serve as spokesmen for the world's have-nots. Both countries signed a pact on cooperation in education and another between Indian Railways which runs one of the world's biggest networks and South African railway company Spoornet. Cross border investment in each other's markets can make the India Brazil South Africa (IBSA) generate trade worth $15 billion by 2009. If this target is achieved it would mean a 150 per cent increase in trade over 2005 which stood at $6 billion. The present target is to achieve $10 billion trade among the three countries by 2007. Indian companies in sectors like pharmaceuticals, auto industry, alternate fuels like ethanol and oil shelling have already invested in Brazil and South Africa and more companies are looking at these markets for investment. Similarly, South African companies involved in diamonds and alcoholic beverages have invested in India. Brazil is the second largest receiver of Foreign Direct Investment after China among developing countries. While Indian and South African companies have looked at Brazil for investments, Brazilian companies have not yet invested in these two countries as yet. The confederation of Indian industry is of the view that Brazilian investments into areas like energy or food processing could help build better linkages between the three countries. The three countries should also work towards mutual recognition of standards, especially in agricultural products, pharmaceuticals and engineering goods. Role of IBSA Since its inception in 2003, IBSA has progressed from a loose partnership constructed mainly to address political issues in macro terms, to a functioning alliance that seeks to discuss and resolve specific worldwide questions prevalent among developing countries. The initial purpose of IBSA was to create a loose alliance that could present a cohesive voice at the bargaining sessions anticipated for the Doha Rounds, and which would exert pressure on the rich nations in order to achieve common positions in UN Security Council deliberations. IBSA has further amplified its presence in an annual dialogue involving the foreign ministers of India, Brazil, and South Africa to discuss the development issues. Soon after its inception, IBSA partnered with the UNDP to develop a trust fund to financially back the goal of worldwide poverty alleviation. While a preferential trade pact in the near future is still far from certain, IBSA nevertheless has made strides elsewhere. In the tourism industry, many are seeing the idea of IBSA's existence as providing a compelling opportunity and a strong selling point. Recently, IBSA agreed to forge cooperation in the agricultural sectors and technology. Agriculture has always been a sore subject for developing countries, mainly because of Washington's insistence on maintaining its federal subsidy programme. Developing countries have suffered an estimated $ 100 billion in annual losses due to limited sales resulting from the developed countries' agriculture subsidy programmes. IBSA, along with the G4 (comprising India, Brazil, South Africa, and China) and the G20, has been instrumental in an effort to develop a "middle ground" on trade negotiations. And it seems to be determined to continue along this path. Unique as a transcontinental agreement among several far-flung members of the developing world appears to be, IBSA seems to have less common political ground than your average regional organisation. However, the three countries have linked what they do have in common, namely socio-economic conditions and political positions within their respective regions, to promote their internal strengths. In order to tailor a mutually beneficial framework, IBSA can be effective if the organization focuses on commonly held issues and works to realize goals within spelled-out categories. IBSA has been, and will likely continue to be, an increasingly successful political format representing the interests of these three emerging regional behemoths with worldwide responsibilities. Overall, IBSA has yet to discover its final identity, and this disclosure will go a long way to determine the future viability of global-south synergy as embodied in IBSA. Yet, the headway that these countries are making is quite impressive. By tapping into interdependency among the most capable states to be found in three southern geographic areas, IBSA is helping to lead relations between the new organisation and other developing countries to be found within their respective geographical regions, while working to solve a variety of ills and socio-economic problems plaguing both their immediate and more distant neighbours.
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