India and Brazil have developed very good relations recently. Although they are at the extremes by location, both the countries have many features in common that makes mutual understanding easier. Like India, it is also a very large country, the fifth largest both geographically and by population. Both have comparable industrial, trade and consumer base. Their governments cooperate each other at multinational forums like the G-20, BRICS and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Fast emerging as global markets, both countries have the potential for massive development at greater pace.
Both have invested immensely in each other’s economy. While India has invested in energy, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, information technology, mining and engineering sectors in Brazil, Brazil has invested in automobiles, biofuels, information technology, mining, footwear and energy sectors in India. The Indian companies have positioned FDI in Brazil. Till last year it was at USD 103.25 million, while the FDI inflows from Brazil was USD 23 million.
Indian business in Brazil
India exports cotton yarn, chemicals, polyester and drugs to Brazil, and imports from there crude, sugar, soy oil and copper. The trade between the two countries stands at $10 billion.
There is a strategic synergy between India and Brazil. Both the nations have been focusing on enhancing bilateral trade and establishing business presence in each other. India imports about 70 percent of its crude oil requirement from Brazil, apart from sugar and other food items. India has established several Indian IT companies, employing thousands of Brazilians.
Major Indian companies like Reliance, Wipro and Ranbaxy have substantial presence in the Brazilian economy. Reliance accounted for 38 per cent of the Indo-Brazilian trade in 2010. Likewise, Ranbaxy today is among the top ten pharmaceutical companies in that country.
No illegal business practices
The culture in Brazil is diverse. Towards Sao Paulo, they are quite Western but when one goes towards north, the culture gets more conservative. The people in Brazil give a lot of importance to relationships. They respect each other irrespective of their position.
Brazilians want quality. We need to strike a balance between quality and prices. If quality should suffer when you are bringing down the pricing, it would fail to make an impact in the Brazilian market.
Unscrupulous arrangement to get a breakthrough in the Brazilian market is looked down upon. It is considered a crime in Brazil to adopt illegal business practices and such an act stands to attract the tough punishment.
Breaking language barrier
English is not commonly spoken in Brazil. One needs to learn the local language for better results. If this comes as slightly a tough proposition, then one can choose to be patient and soft-spoken during business conversations with Brazilian counterparts. One has to be elegantly dressed also. Dressing is an important part of the Brazilian business etiquette.
(Contact for info: Indian missions:
http://www.indiaconsulate.org.br/
http://www.mea.gov.in/indian-mission.htm?30/Brazil)
