Even as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries gather clout in the world economy, smaller countries seem to be gravitating towards it.

Ahead of the forthcoming BRIC summit in New Delhi later this month, a trade and investment mission of around 30 Costa Rican entrepreneurs will be visiting India. The aim: Strengthen trade and investment relations.

The team, led by the minister of foreign trade of Costa Rica, Anabel Gonzalez, will be here on a five-day visit starting March 19, accompanied by Costa Rican agencies on trade and investment promotion – PROCOMER and CINDE.

Talking to FE, the Costa Rican minister said, ?The global competitive scenario is changing, and emerging economies, such as the BRICs, are increasingly contributing to the expansion of trade and investment flows, opening new opportunities for countries worldwide. Costa Rica wants, of course, to participate in these new opportunities and that is why we have begun to explore areas of common interest with India. This will also deepen and strengthen our relations.?

She said Costa Rica and India are in the process of negotiating an agreement to promote investment and bilateral business relations. At the moment, the ministry of foreign trade of Costa Rica is working with the ministry of finance and the ministry of commerce and the industry of India to sign Agreement for the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments and Framework Agreement to Promote Economic Cooperation between both countries.?

During the visit, coupled with the participation of their business delegation in INDIASOFT 2012, the minister expressed hope that it should be an excellent opportunity to exchange information, establish formal communication channels and begin to strengthen and grown the trade, investment and cooperation relationship between the two countries.

In New Delhi, she will meet with commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and commerce secretary Rahul Khullar.

She is also expected to have meetings with Indian industry chambers, including Ficci. Besides being the guest of honour at INDIASOFT 2012 , the minister is slated to visit Hyderabad on March 21-22 and Bangalore on March 23.

?There is great potential for strategic alliances between Costa Rica and India in the area of business processing services, knowledge processing operations, digital animation and software development sectors, among others,? said Gonz?lez.

During the past five years, Costa Rica and India have started to warm up to one another. Private businesses are also opening up to Latin America.

As per the Inter-American Development Bank, China accounts for more than 10% of total trade in Latin America, while India is way behind at 0.9%. Comparing the two countries in the Costa Rican market shows a similar result. In 2007, Costa Rica-China trade peaked at $848 million. Biggest ever trade figure between Costa Rica and India was in 2008 at a mere $28 million.