IBSA

India, Brazil and South Africa are planning to enter into a trilateral free trade agreement, linking three economic powerhouses of Asia, Latin America and Africa in what would be a major South-South FTA. It is still unclear whether IBSA would liberalise trade between the three national markets or those of SACU (for South Africa), Mercosur (for Brazil) and India.

IBSA as an institution is making slow progress and it seems likely that some FTA between the three will eventuate. In April 2010 the three governments signed scientific cooperation agreements. South Africa hosted the fifth annual IBSA Dialogue Forum in October 2011.

last update: May 2012
photo: GovernmentZA/CC BY-ND 2.0