Juliana Cézar Nunes
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Cape Town (South Africa) - This weekend the Chancellors of Brazil, India, and South Africa concluded the Trilateral Dialogue Forum, held in the Cape Town, South Africa, with the definition of cooperation agreements in various areas. Several dates were set for meetings and parallel events among the three countries between now and the end of the year. In the area of culture, Brazil should host a festival of Brazilian, African, and Indian music in November.

In the private sector, the three countries took an important step last week, when they formed the trilateral business council, ratified by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) on behalf of Brazilian entrepreneurs. In the sphere of sectorial cooperation, various governmental organs in the three countries will begin to work in closer conjunction this year.

This month, on March 28-29, the Ministers of Health from the three countries will meet in Brazil. It is expected that agreements will be signed in the areas of Aids and malaria. The Ministers of Science and Technology will meet, also in Brazil, on June 8 -9. In July the Ministers of Education will gather, this time in New Delhi, India, which is also organizing an encounter for the audiovisual sector.

Brazil will host a seminar on economic and social development in Rio de Janeiro on August 3-5. Trilateral meetings are also expected to be held shortly among Ministers of Defense and Agriculture, which, like culture, also joined the list of areas of cooperation. A conference on indigenous cultures is planned for 2006 in South Africa.

In the field of information technology, the three countries pledged to expand debates over the need to cut the costs of computer access to the internet, exchanging experiences over ways to acquire equipment inexpensively and encourage the use of free software. To faciliate the trilateral dialogue, the creation of a group internet site is set for June.

In the sphere of tourism, there will be an encounter of Ministers in May, in South Africa. A consensus exists that the group needs to make progress in the transportation sector. Air travel services are beginning to show positive signs, with the announcement by a South African airline of plans to operate a direct route with stopovers in Bombay, Johannesburg, and São Paulo. In the maritime shipping area, the three countries should sign a memorandum, shortly, to expand this form of transportation, essential to commercial relations.

Translation: David Silberstein