VZCZCXRO1604
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1435 3081138
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031138Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2783
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 7182
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5915
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 7581
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0595
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0655
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0699
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8648
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6818
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 3002

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001435 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ETRD IN SF BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: NEW DELHI IBAS SUMMIT ENSURES CONTINUITY 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 2763 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary.  Brazilian diplomats say Brazil was 
satisfied with the October 15 India)Brazil-South Africa 
(IBAS) Summit in New Delhi because it strengthened IBAS and 
should ensure its continuity after the upcoming changes in 
member state governments.  The IBAS Fund is capitalized at 
only twelve million dollars, but leaders approved four new 
development projects and a second phase for two existing 
projects.  A leading goal of IBAS continues to be increasing 
and diversifying trade flows among the three, with a goal of 
25 billion dollars by 2015.  Brazil will assume the IBAS 
secretariat in 2009 and host the next summit a year from now. 
 End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Poloff met on October 21 with Counselor Joao 
Genesio de Almeida, director of the IBAS Division at the 
Ministry of External Relations.  Almeida said Brazil 
considers the summit a success because IBAS's continuity is 
now increasingly ensured despite the inevitable changes in 
member state governments.  This was Brazil's overriding goal 
and it was achieved, he said.  IBAS is still pursuing other 
goals that have not yet reached their potential, he added, 
citing Brazil's interest in increasing trade flows, creating 
investment opportunities, and increasing trade in medicines 
and technology.  He noted that IBAS already has done a lot to 
fill "voids" in the bilateral relationships Brazil had with 
India and South Africa, and that this occurred "very 
quickly."  Brazil's long-range goal is "convergence," Almeida 
said, and it has been going very well. 
 
IBAS Fund 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  At the summit, leaders agreed to advance two 
existing IBAS Fund projects to a second phase ) solid waste 
collection in Haiti and agricultural development in 
Guinea-Bissau -- and to initiate four new projects.  The new 
projects are a sports complex in Ramallah; an HIV/AIDS clinic 
in Burundi; a water management project in Laos; and a 
desalinization project in Cape Verde.  The IBAS Fund was 
conceived in 2004 as a fund to combat hunger and poverty, 
according to MRE briefing papers available online 
(www2.mre.gov.br/ibas/).  Almeida said the IBAS Fund is 
currently capitalized at twelve million dollars, with seven 
million designated for Fund projects and the remainder 
unallocated. 
 
Challenges: Transportation, Trade, and the IBAS Mechanism 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Almeida cited increasing commerce and 
transportation links among the three countries as a major 
challenge Brazil would like to address.  IBAS has set a goal 
of increasing total three-way commerce from the current eight 
billion dollars a year to 15 billion in 2010 and 25 billion 
dollars by 2015.  Almeida acknowledged this was a very 
ambitious goal and said it was suggested by the Business 
Forum, and in view of a possible global recession, leaders 
might review trade goals at upcoming meetings in Brazil.  He 
added that the IBAS mechanism must be improved and 
structured, although IBAS members want to keep it informal 
and relatively free of bureaucracy. 
 
Upcoming meetings 
 
¶4.  (U) Brazil will assume the IBAS secretariat next year and 
will host the next summit on October 8, 2009.  IBAS Foreign 
Ministers will meet in Brazil in July, and member states may 
hold a special meeting on economic topics later this year. 
 
Comment 
 
¶6.  (SBU) By defining success as IBAS's continuity, Brazil 
has set the bar low.  This could be because other goals are 
too still difficult for the young group to achieve and Brazil 
may not have high expectations from IBAS in the near future. 
The goal of increasing three-way trade to 25 billion dollars 
in seven years may be especially difficult and would require 
rapid growth through a likely global recession with falling 
or weak commodity prices.  "Convergence" in some areas may be 
easy but in others, such as on the Doha Round, sharp 
divisions remain, especially between Brazil and India. 
SOBEL