Brazilian VP to co-chair inaugural Trade Ministerial Review Meeting with Piyush Goyal today

New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) Brazil's Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, will meet Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday for the inaugural Trade Ministerial Review Meeting.

This meeting follows recent high-level discussions between Indian and Brazilian leaders aimed at enhancing trade and investment between the two countries.

Alckmin arrived in India on Wednesday for a two-day visit. He is accompanied by Cabinet Ministers, senior officials and a business delegation.

Following his arrival, he held a meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. Brazilian Defence Minister Jose Mucio Monteiro Filho was also present during the interaction.

India and Brazil share a strategic partnership. The leaders reviewed the entire range of multifaceted relations in the defence sector between the two countries.

They also exchanged views on areas of mutual interest covering military-to-military and defence industrial cooperation, including joint exercises and training visits.

"The leaders reviewed the progress of ongoing defence-related initiatives and identified priority areas for joint work, including exploring opportunities for co-development & co-production of defence equipment," the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

During his visit, Alckmin is also scheduled to meet Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri to discuss various issues of mutual interest. He is also expected to attend the India-Brazil Business Forum and visit the All India Institute of Ayurveda.

"Brazil is the largest trade partner of India in South America. During the recent State visit of Prime Minister Modi to Brazil, the leaders agreed to establish a Ministerial-level Review Mechanism to foster our trade and investment, and set a bilateral trade target of USD 20 billion in the next five years," read a statement issued by the MEA.

"The visit of Mr Alckmin is envisaged to provide an opportunity to review bilateral trade and investment, identify new priority sectors, set a road map towards achieving the trade target and further strengthen the multifaceted Strategic Partnership," it added.

The visit also comes just days after India and Brazil discussed a roadmap to take bilateral trade to USD 20 billion in five years during the seventh meeting of the India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism (TMM) which was held on October 7.

Rajesh Agrawal, Commerce Secretary, and Tatiana Lacerda Prazeres, Secretary of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services for Brazil, co-chaired the meeting.

During the meeting in the national capital, both sides extensively discussed matters related to bilateral trade and outlined a roadmap for taking it forward.

The discussions included a review of bilateral trade and investment relations, expansion of India-MERCOSUR PTA, market access issues, visa issues, sectoral collaborations in pharmaceuticals and healthcare, chemicals and petrochemicals, MSME, banking and finance, promotion of industries and internal trade, multilateral issues and other matters of mutual interest.

During the State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Brazil in July 2025 and meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leaders had set a target to increase the bilateral trade to USD 20 billion over the next five years.

--IANS

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