India, Brazil, SA target $15-bn trade

PRETORIA: India, Brazil and South Africa have committed themselves to increasing trade among themselves to more than $15 billion by 2010. This emerged at the end of the second India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) heads of state summit held here on Thursday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, South Africa President Thabo Mbeki and Brazil's President Lula da Silva have urged business and industry players to be more ambitious and to exceed the target of $15 billion.

Discussions at the summit ranged from co-operation aimed at poverty eradication and development, further enhancing political and trade relations among the three countries and developments with regard to the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and the conclusion of the Doha Development Round.

The three countries also signed new agreements on cultural cooperation, cooperation in health and medicine, and MOUs on social issues, higher education, tax administration and wind resources.