In Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s fourth-largest economy, sixth-most populated, and multicultural state with a strategic position and a highly qualified workforce, we are eager to engage Indian businesses and investors to participate in rebuilding and climate-resilient infrastructure projects. As we recover from the greatest floods in 80 years, Indian enterprises have a fantastic chance to be part of our Rio Grande Plan for Climate Planning, Reconstruction, and Adaptation. Since 95% of our cities are impacted, we want to reconstruct our ports, roads, residential neighbourhoods, and industrial infrastructure. USD 4 billion will be spent on rehabilitation projects by our state government alone. We rank third in Brazil for the number of state concessions for hospitals, highways, airports, schools, transportation, and other infrastructure, and our state is a leader in privatisation. During an interactive discussion at WTC Mumbai, H.E. Mr. Gabriel Vieira de Souza, Vice Governor of the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul, stated, “We have a pipeline of concessions and public partnership projects with a minimum investment of USD 5 billion in these projects.” WTC Mumbai and the All India Association of Industries collaborated to host the event.
“Rio Grande do Sul is the innovation capital of Brazil as it ranks number one in patent filing according to CLP Ranking,” the vice governor continued. Two of Brazil’s top technology parks are among the state’s eighteen parks. Eighty of the 1300 active startups in the state are agritech companies (2023). One of the top five most promising developing ecosystems for entrepreneurs in Latin America is the capital city of Porto Alegre.
In order to collaborate with his administration on green energy, green hydrogen, and other new fields, the vice governor sent an invitation to Indian business. “As we are dedicated to decarbonisation and a signatory to Race to Zero, Race to Resilience 2050, we are spearheading Brazil’s efforts in green hydrogen and renewable energy,” he added. We encourage Indian businesses to investigate commercial prospects in a variety of industries, including petrochemicals, forestry, engineering, healthcare, and the value chain of agriculture. Additionally, our state is competitive in renewable energy and green hydrogen. I encourage Indian businesses to take use of our state’s 1028 GW of wind energy potential, of which 5% is now being used.
Indian businesses were asked by H.E. Mr. Gabriel de Souza to establish Rio Grande do Sul as the entry point to Latin America and the Mercosur area. According to him, Porto Alegre, the capital, is only 1,500 km away from 50 million people and 70% of Latin America’s GDP. The fifth-highest number of highly qualified formal workers is found in the state. With the second-highest percentage of high-tech sectors and the most airports and regional links, it is the third most industrialised state in Brazil. One of the most significant ports in South America for big ships is the Port of Mercosur in our state.
Brazil is the ninth largest economy in the world, and India is the fifth, so there is a lot of room for bilateral collaboration, said Mr. Joao de Mendonca Lima Neto, Consul General, Consulate General of Brazil. This has been a rather peaceful first two years of my term. However, the volume of official and commercial trips from Brazil to India this year has astounded me. The emphasis his administration takes on fostering commerce and investment with India is demonstrated by the vice governor of Rio Grande do Sul’s visit to Mumbai. With a 6.5% GDP share, Rio Grande do Sul is one of Brazil’s most rich states. Agriculture, industry, infrastructure, education, and health are all areas in which the state excels. The state has strong trading ties with Latin America and the rest of the globe because to its sophisticated airport and port network.
“This is the beginning of a new phase in India-Brazil relations as we have signed an MOU with the Indo-Brazil Chamber for deepening our trade, investment, and technology cooperation,” Dr. Vijay Kalantri, President of the All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and Chairman of WTC Mumbai, had earlier noted in his welcome remarks. Since Mr. Anil Kadakia was the Honorary Consul of Brazil in Mumbai, AIAI and WTC Mumbai have been fostering bilateral ties. I have no doubt that by exchanging delegations and market knowledge, we can treble the USD 12 billion in bilateral commerce that already exists.
According to Dr. Kalantri, since the existing trade basket is mostly focused on gasoline, sugar, and soy beans, we need to diversify our trade in industries like automotive, engineering, and textiles. Other new areas for bilateral investment and commerce, according to Dr. Kalantri, are tourism and hospitality. In the next years, he expressed optimism that Brazil could treble its present investment of USD 1 billion in India and that India would double its current investment of USD 6 billion in Brazil.
The Indo-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Centre Mumbai, and All India Association of Industries (AIAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the event to collaborate in advancing trade, investment, and technology cooperation between Brazil and India through business delegation exchanges and other trade facilitation measures.