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Latin America the emerging region for trade and Investments?
Date: January 2018
According to the recent reports, Chinese Vow to ‘Promote Globalization’ in Latin America. China will invest $2 trillion abroad in the next 15 years, and will soon seek a spike in “high-quality goods” from Latin America.
China overtook the US to become the largest export destination for Latin American countries like Brazil, Chile and Peru, and replaced the European Union (EU) as the second largest trade partner of the region in 2017. With a target of US$500 billion in trade and US$250 billion investment in the region by 2025, China is working to establish itself as the dominant economic power in the region.
India’s trade with Latin America is only US 30 Billion, which is low in comparison to China and the US; however, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, its increasing self-confidence is resulting in continuous growing trade.
In 2017, Indian firms have increased their investment in Mexico and Brazil especially in auto parts, IT and agrochemicals. It is interesting that UPL, the largest Indian agrochemical company has more revenue in Latin America than in India. This is an opportune time for India to take the win-win economic partnership with Latin America to the next level.
Argentina Yerba Mate Tea – “The Antioxidant Powerhouse" Coming to India
Date: August 2017
Argentine Yerba Mate Tea (Jer-bah Mah-tay) is a widely consumed infusion in South American countries especially in Argentina (its national drink). It is obtained from leaves and twigs of the Ilex paraguariensis tree – rainforest herb. Processing steps comprise heat treatment, drying, seasoning and grinding.
Argentina is the main world producer of yerba mate, and in Argentina it is cultivated only (for its climate and red soil) in the provinces of Misiones and northeast of Corrientes.
Yerba Mate is very popular in Argentina, Brazil Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile (South America), and growing popularity in United States & Canada (North America), Germany, Spain, Austria (EU), Japan, Korea, Syria, Lebanon, UAE, Turkey (Asia) and soon to be launched in India..........
How Yoga-nomics magic influencing Latin America?
Date:July 2017
For centuries Yoga is known to awaken in one, the inner peace and tranquility we often go looking for in material things. Little surprise Latin Americans are glued in to this brilliant science. In fact, they rightly consider India a land of yoga, meditation, philosophy, wisdom, culture and spiritualism. Yoga schools can be found all over the region. Yoga and meditation are taught in some Latin American jails to calm down the convicts.
With miles of untouched natural habitat and the deeply held spiritual traditions of the Maya and Incan civilizations, Central and South America is the perfect place to embark on a spiritual journey.
On the economic diplomacy, India has good but underexplored trade relations with Mexico, Argentina, and Chile, apart from its alignment with Brazil. With the India-Peru free trade discussions, India would be able to move ahead of the stereotype of seeing Latin America through the Brazilian lens.
One of the most hyped events scheduled is the free trade talks between India and Peru, which have been confirmed to take place in July this year. A Joint Study Group (JSG) was set up by the two countries in January 2015 to create a feasibility study, which in October 2016 gave a nod to the desirability of a free trade agreement (FTA).................... Read More
A ‘New India’ to grow 3-Folds to $7.25 Tn (GDP) by year 2031-32
Date: April 2017
India’s GDP is estimated to cross US $2.5 Trillion by the end of 2016-17 financial year and if it grows at an 8 per cent average rate for the next 15 years, the GDP will be around USD $7.25 trillion (USD $ 24 Tn, PPP) by 2031.
The Government of India Think Tank, Niti Aayog, projected the size of the Indian economy in a presentation made at its Governing Council meeting - chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by 28 state chief ministers.
The “India 2031-32: Vision, Strategy and Action Agenda” also visualises a fully literate society with universal access to health care. It also calls for having a much larger and modern network of roads, railways, waterways and air connectivity along with modern food retail, and a clean India where citizens would have access to quality air, water, and food.
They have envisaged a new India in which all citizens in 15 years will have houses with toilets, two-wheeler or cars, air conditioners and digital connectivity. Recent policy changes made by the Indian government in the area of Electric Vehicles and Food Retail are few examples of a ‘New India’..................Read More
India’s expanding Business Ties – from Argentina (Lithium) to Mexico (IT)
Date: March 2017
India is planning to reach out to Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile to procure supplies of lithium that are used to make batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and solar power plants.
And also to meet defence production requirements and to cut India’s dependence on imports India has set an ambitious target to achieve 6-7 million sales of electric/hybrid vehicles in India by the year 2020 and of meeting target of 100 GW of solar power generation by 2022.
But it has no lithium to power these dreams and so is expected to turn to the three countries in South America, the so-called “lithium triangle” which hold the world’s greatest reserves of the metal.
On the other hand, Mexico’s Ambassador to India Melba Pria has reached out to Indian workers on an H-1B visa and Indian IT service companies to relocate to Mexico, if the Trump administration or the US Congress cracks down on legal immigration..............Read More
'India will be world's fastest economy for the next decade'
Date: March 2017
October 2016 World Bank global GDP report said: 'South Asia has defied a sluggish world economy and solidified its lead as the fastest growing region in the world in 2016. Given its weight in the region, India sets the pace for South Asia as a whole. Its economic activity is expected to accelerate to 7 per cent in 2017, after maintaining a solid 7.6 per cent in 2016.
India’s performance is based on solid growth contributions from consumption -- boosted by normal monsoon and civil service pay revisions. Over the medium term, accelerated infrastructure spending and a better investment climate may help increase private investment and exports'.
The most important are the reforms of monetary policy and financial policy under the Reserve Bank of India and the institution of a Goods and Services Tax, scheduled for this year..............Read More
Could U.S.’ Policies drive Latin America (LAC) and India closer to each other?
Date: January 2017
U.S.’ policies toward Latin America under a Donald Trump presidency are slowly coming to view, and many in the region wonder — with good reason — about the future of U.S. engagement. The likelihood that the U.S. will play a diminishing role in economic and political affairs in Latin America has given India and Asia an opening. This makes Latin America and India’s evolving Ties especially timely.
India should leverage this opportunity to strengthen relations with LatAm region with which it enjoys healthy political relations, considerable economic complementary, and with which it can make common cause in a dynamic environment. China, Russia, Japan, Korea and others are making important inroads into the LAC markets as well.
With the U.S. rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership all but guaranteed, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific will no doubt start to look more appealing to some in the region.
India and Peru plan to start negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement covering goods, services and investments sometime in the first quarter. The cabinet of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a feasibility study on the proposed deal on Wednesday, clearing the way for the start of formal talks, Peru‘s trade ministry said in a statement.
Wipro Ltd announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Brazil-based IT services provider InfoSERVER S.A. For USD 8.7 million. Sao Paolo headquartered InfoSERVER, which is focused on the Brazilian market providing custom application development and software deployment services, has some of the largest Brazilian banks as its clients.
Hero MotoCorp, India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, has entered the Argentine market with the launch of its Glamour motorbike — its first-ever global launch of a new product outside India. The company has appointed Marwen SA as its distributor in Argentina. The business environment in Argentina has been improving through economic reforms made by the administration of Mauricio Macri, which started in December 2015.............Read More
India-LatAm trade grew 16 times in the past 15 years!
Date: December 2016
India’s trade with Latin America went from $2 billion USD in the year 2000 to $32.59 billion in 2015 – A growth of 16 times in the past 15 years. If we continue with the same momentum, India-LatAm trade in the next 10 years could easily grow to $250-$300 billion USD.
Goods Exports from Latin America to India have grown at an annual rate of 14.7% while imports have increased at an annual rate of 16.2% during 2001-2015 period.
Currently, Latin America is the region with the lowest amount of Indian exports and imports. This region was the last in which the Indian government strengthened its trade policy, both for its geographical distance as well as its less significant historical relations. India’s export to Latin America is only 4% of the total trade in comparison to EU, and US, which is at 16% each.
The United States continues to be the primary source of imports to Latin America responsible for 32% of goods imports from the region in 2015. However, China has been its fastest growing partner, with Latin American imports between 2001-2015 increasing at an annual rate of 22.3%............Read More
Can India-Mexico (Americas) trade grow on medical Marijuana?
Date: November 2016
While the whole world talks about the US elections, the Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is keen to boost Indian exports. To further this initiative, India needs to look for newer markets such as Latin America.
With a bilateral trade volume of $6.1 billion per annum, Mexico is the fourth largest trading partner for India in Latin America. India invests over US$3.7bn in Mexico and Mexico’s investment in India is to the tune of US$800mn per year. There is tremendous scope for Mexico to become India’s leading trade partner in Latin America as both countries have a huge potential for collaboration in sectors such a as automobiles, auto components, pharmaceuticals, information technology, infrastructure, renewable energy and downstream sectors of petroleum products.
Exploring and growing this relationship is in the interest of both countries that stand at the helm of development. One of the untapped but growing industries that need attention is that of medical cannabis. Further, in a landmark ruling, Mexico's Supreme Court recently opened the door to the recreational use of marijuana. A group of activists’ were given permission to grow and consume their own produce. Mexico is being eyed as the next big market for the medical usage of marijuana.
India is often cited as the original home of cannabis. With documented use of it dating back thousands of years it is widely believed that India may have been the native home of all cannabis strains. In the 1960s and 70s, marijuana went from plantations in countries such as Thailand, India and Morocco to wealthy consumer markets in the West............ Read More
BRICS: India Seeks Brasil Support to Expand the Mercosur PTA
Date: October 2016
As the five BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) agreed to increase, internal trade to up to $ 500 billion in the coming years at the recently-concluded summit in Goa, India has asked its LatAm partner Brazil to help expedite the process for the expansion of the India-MERCOSUR preferential trade agreement (PTA).
On the sidelines of the BRICS talks, during a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil’s President Michel Temer on October 17, both sides highlighted the issue. All the member countries have agreed to work together in a modular manner so that the expansion can be completed on time. Right now, India along with the four countries have set 2018 for an expanded India-MERCOSUR PTA.
A group of four countries — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay — have formed MERCOSUR. Together, they have a PTA with India and are seeking to expand it. They also expressed the need to strengthen the India-MERCOSUR PTA and expand the items on offer from both sides to at least 2,500 from the current 450 as this would greatly benefit the two way trade and need to have close cooperation between India, Brazil and other MERCOSUR partners so as to ensure that the expansion process does not spill over beyond end of next year.............Read More
Is Pacific Alliance the India's passage to Latin America?
Date: October 2016
Geography has often served as an impediment in getting India closer to Latin America notwithstanding similar political systems, common approaches to global challenges and cultural affinities. Yet as impact of globalisation is felt in both India and Latin America, common grounds are emerging for cooperation between the region and South Asia’s biggest country. One such area is changing weather patterns and its impact on agriculture and its people.
Blessed with vast resources and talent, the LAC region countries are already a very important segment of world economy. In addition, when the global economy is facing recession and turbulence otherwise, LAC can be an important region for global prosperity and stability.
India plans to source more crude from Latin America as it expands its refinery capacity with units configured to process the heavy crude from the region. According to industry sources, importing crude from Latin America will be quite profitable to the refiners because heavy crude is cheaper than the variety exported by West Asia.
As a block, PA is the 8th largest economy in the world, has 38% of Latin America GDP ($2 trillion) and is the 7th largest exporting entity worldwide. According to a senior diplomat from the PA, the objective of the alliance is to allow free flow of goods, services, capital and people as well as promote competitiveness, growth and social inclusion.............Read More
Latin America Pivots To India As Chinese Growth Slows
Date: May 2016
China has been one of Latin America's main trade partners in recent years, driving the engine of development in the region with a hungry demand for raw materials to help sustain the Asian giant's growth.
But the recent slowdown of China's economy has been felt acutely in the economies of several Latin American countries. In Peru and Chile, for example, where mining is a key industry, international price declines for minerals have discouraged investment and affected national growth expectations.
All of this makes clear that we must step up the search for new markets for our products on the global market that allow us to diversify risk. Given that, it's time to turn our attention in particular to a global giant that's expanding by the day: India.....Read More
Why You Should Be Bullish on India?
Date: February 2016
India is the most attractive investment destination, ahead of China, Southeast Asia and North America, according a survey by consulting firm Ernst & Young. Thirty-two per cent of the investors in the poll ranked India as the most attractive market, followed by China, which received the top approval of 15 per cent.
India emerged as the number one FDI destination in the world during the first half of 2015. With FDI capital inflows of $30.8 billion, India has outpaced all other economies, moving up to the premier position from being in the fifth spot during the corresponding period of the previous year, Ernst & Young said...... Read More
Does India have a stake in Latin America?
Date: February 2016
In the case of Latin America, the enormous region, almost five times the size of India, the economic downturn affected its politics. The region supplied almost twenty percent of India’s annual oil imports ($ 20 billion) in 2014-15. This figure has gone down in absolute terms, to around $ 5 billion in the first half of 2015-16.......Read More
India-Mercosur: Argentina- A Diamond in the Rough & Brazil takes the Good with the Bad
Date: December 2015
In Bloomberg’s Index of 2015, Argentina was ranked second after Venezuela due to the country’s high inflation rate of 30 percent at the time, combined with an unemployment rate of 7 percent earlier in the year. With such dire economic figures, it’s no surprise why most foreign investors have shunned away from South America’s second-largest economy in spite of its vast natural resources and economic potential...... Read More
Risks and Opportunities of Doing Business in Emerging Markets: Get Creative with Risk Management
Date: September 2015
If you haven’t yet tapped into the opportunity and potential of emerging markets, now might be a good time to start. In today’s hyper-connected, mobile, and social world, more sophisticated supply chain and fulfillment processes have opened up doors to reach new customer and partner communities. It makes significant business sense to create and scale your business to think and act globally. Apart from cost-saving factors, emerging markets have become important growth hubs, fueled by a rising middle class, increasing purchasing power, steady economic growth, and improved infrastructure...... Read More
Date: August 2015
If there is one region where India is taking many new initiatives to step up political engagement and increase trade and investment, it is Latin America. An indication of India’s keenness is evident from the intensive interactions with the region in the last few months. There have been exchange of visits with almost all countries in the Latin American, Central American and Caribbean region in recent times...... Read More
For Energy Security, India Needs to Go Deeper into Latin America
Date: June 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a crackling diplomatic pace for his government. Barely two months after being sworn in, he was in Brazil in July 2014, where he met 12 Latin American leaders on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. This triggered a more active engagement with a region benignly ignored by India despite its huge potential...... Read More
Indian Drug Manufacturer Lupin Enters Brazil (LatAm) Market with $100 Million Buyout
Date: May 2015
Indian Drug manufacturer Lupin on Wednesday said it has forayed into the Brazilian market through its acquisition of 100% equity stake in Medquímica Indústria Farmacêutica S.A., Brazil, (Medquímica). The size of the deal is estimated at around $100 million (about Rs 640 crore), according to industry experts. However, the deal is subject to certain closing condition, the company said in a release...... Read More
India and Latin America (LaTAm) have Paid Little Attention to Each Other
Date: April 2015
As the developed nations, particularly EU are in recession, India and LaTAm countries need to diversify its products for exports and expand its bases in new markets such as Latin America and India respectively...... Read More
