RELATIONS between Brazil and Singapore were taken a step further on Tuesday, with bilateral agreements inked to promote trade and investment, co-operation in science and technology and a new air services deal.

Ministers on both sides signed the three memoranda of understanding, witnessed by their respective heads of Government.

The two countries will now have a platform to see how trade and investment can be boosted, in the form of a joint committee to look into issues affecting them.

It will hold its first meeting in the second half of next year.

Bilateral trade stood at US$3.2 billion (S$4.83 billion) last year and Brazil is Singapore's second largest trading partner in the region after Panama.

About 30 companies including Keppel and Sembcorp are already operating in Brazil, while Temasek Holdings has just opened an office in Sao Paolo. In Singapore, companies such as Petrobas have already set up shop.

A committee would be able to clarify issues surrounding investment rules, for example, an area that businessmen looking for new opportunities might be unclear about.

Singapore and Brazil research institutes are also expected to exchange views - and students and scientists - on topics as diverse as bio-technology, pharmaceuticals and renewable energies under the science and technology agreement.

It is a wide-ranging agreement which will kick off with a joint research project on dengue fever between Singapore's National Environment Agency and Brazil's Health ministry.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in Brazil for his first official trip, met his counterpart President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva at the Itamaraty Palace on Tuesday.

He passed through two rows of white and red suited palace guards, known as Dragons of the Independence, before proceeding into the cavernous palace for his meeting.

Relations between the two countries have moved apace with several bilateral visits made by ministers on both sides in recent years.

A joint statement issued by the two governments said the two leaders discussed a wide range of subjects during their meeting, from fighting climate change to the need for a successful conclusion of the Doha round of trade talks.

At a lunch hosted for PM Lee, both leaders made a pitch for investments in their respective countries, with President Lula suggesting, among other things, co-operation in the research of clean energy and biofuels. Brazil is one of the largest producers of ethanol, made from sugar cane, rather than corn.

Before toasting his host, Mr Lee described the three agreements as efforts 'to broaden and deepen co-operation'' between the two countries.

One topic both touched on: Singapore's interest in joining Mercosur, a trade group comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

This economic bloc or Common Market of the South, was set up in 1995, and counts as the world's fourth largest economy.

Some steps have already been taken. Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding with the group to promote trade and investment in September 2007.

Mr Lee said a Singapore-Mercosur free trade agreement could also be a precursor to an expanded FTA between Mercocsur and Asean.

On Monday, Asean ministers held a dialogue with their Mercusor counterparts, in which they directed their officials to meet in Kuala Lumpur next March to draw up an action plan.

The Asean countries have in recent years concluded free trade agreements with several countries, including India and China. On the cards is an FTA linking Asean with Australia and New Zealand.

PM Lee, who is accompanied by Foreign Minister George Yeo and Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran, also met members of the Brazilian Congress on Tuesday before leaving for Santiago in Chile.