Cape Town (PTI): Seeking the "broadening and deepening" of three-way ties among IBSA countries, India on Sunday said the time has come to address the areas of cooperation where progress had been "inadequate".

The India-Brazil-South Africa forum enabled the three countries to coordinate on vital issues of direct concern and facilitated South-South cooperation, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at the fifth IBSA Inter-Ministerial Commission meeting in the town of Somerset West near here.

Describing the grouping as a "unique forum", he said the time had come for the countries in IBSA to transform memoranda of understanding and agreements into "real activities and joint projects on the ground".

"This broadening and deepening of our cooperative activities is important," Mukherjee, who arrived here on Saturday night, said.

"What is equally encouraging is that different sectors of our countries to develop IBSA profiles. We encourage this trend. At the same time we must take a close look at the areas of cooperation that have already been decided upon but inadequate progress has taken place. We need to uplift and improve the areas of cooperation amongst ourselves," he said.

South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who hosted the meeting, and Brazil's Minister of External Relations Celso Amorim represented their countries.

"The success of IBSA requires a substantive economic undertaking. Our leaders have put down the (trade) target of up to USD 10 million by 2010. I am encouraged by the fact that at the end of 2007, we had exceeded a combined turnover of USD 10 million," Mukherjee said.

"I am also encouraged by the fact that investment is growing among us. This tendency needs to be encouraged," Mukherjee said.

Noting that economic growth cannot happen in isolation, the Minister said "It is essential for us in democratic societies to ensure that all sections of society derive benefits from such growth and participate in the growth process."

"The three countries are focused on ensuring inclusive growth. We have already benefitted from sharing experiences and programmes in this regard. Our three countries are in the process of developing a Social Development Strategy for IBSA. We must expedite work on this while continuing to strengthen the process of learning from each other's experiences."

The Minister said IBSA "shares the benefits of South-South co-operation not only among ourselves but also with other developing countries. Most importantly, it allows us to develop our trilateral partnership across the board."

Mukherjee and his counterparts discussed global multilateral issues such as the Millennium Development Goals, international trade, intellectual property rights, climate change, racism and xenophobia, disarmament and non-proliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy and regional political issues of global importance.

They also evaluated existing projects under the IBSA Facility Fund for poverty alleviation and hunger and considered new project proposals.

They discussed preparations for the 3rd IBSA Summit which will take place in New Delhi on October 15.