IBSA news and media portal - India, Brazil and South Africa » Multimedia

Pharmacy to the Developing World May Shut Shop

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:49:19 +0000

India’s generic drugs are a lifeline not only for millions of poor people in India, but also to developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. So much so that India is known as the ‘pharmacy to the developing world’.

But India, which built up its pharmaceutical industry by ignoring patents for decades, was forced to adhere to World Trade Organisation (WTO) intellectual property regulations in 2005. It is also now busily signing various bilateral trade deals with Western countries, seriously threatening the world’s supply of cheap, essential drugs.

Leena Menghaney a lawyer with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in India says the worst affected are likely to be people on anti-retroviral drugs, since about 80 percent of the world’s anti-AIDS drugs and 92 percent of drugs for children with AIDS comes from India.

South Africa is trying to integrate its various modes of transport to improve public transport in the country.

admin — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:15:42 +0000

Brazil: Informal Sector Braces for World Cup

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:41:29 +0000

Most estimates about Brazil’s informal sector and its percentage share of the country’s GDP range in the teens, with some figures as high as 30 percent of the country’s economy. But with the 2014 football World Cup looming — and the 2016 Olympic Games approaching soon after — the livelihoods of these informal workers and others are now directly threatened as a result of preparations being made for these events, critics say.

“(T)housands of the city’s residents are being removed from their homes,” organisers noted at a recent protest held in front of a World Cup qualifying match in Rio de Janeiro. “(S)treet vendors are prevented from working and the vast majority of the population will not have enough money to pay for tickets to the World Cup.”

About 68 billion dollars in economic benefits are projected from the tournament alone, but community organisations argue that the major infrastructural projects will only benefit a few neighbourhoods, companies and social groups and not the majority of the population, including the masses of labourers who make up the country’s robust informal economy.

Brazil: Clean Energy Superpower

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:39:46 +0000

Brazil is the second-largest ethanol producer in the world — and the biggest energy consumer in South America. The emerging market powerhouse is considered a global leader in bio-energy, setting an example with its use of alternative power sources.

South Africa Becoming Attractive Trade Spot

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:47:25 +0000

BIZARRE BAZAAR: Market Forces Rise Above Declarations | LDC-IV

admin — Thu, 12 May 2011 18:36:13 +0000

At the Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul, a battery of Turkish companies set up stalls at a bazaar, eager to sell to businesses from the LDCs. Sanjay Suri reports on this “private sector track” of the conference that ran parallel to the meetings’ gabfest.