BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil,
Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
The grouping was originally known as "BRIC" before the inclusion of South Africa in 2010.
The BRICS members are all developing or newly industrialised countries, but they are distinguished
by their large, fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional and global
affairs; all five are G-20 members.
As of 2013, the five BRICS countries represent almost 3 billion people with a combined nominal
GDP of US$16.039 trillion and an estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves.
As of 2014, the BRICS nations represented 18 percent of the world economy.
Brazil held the chair of the BRICS group in 2014, having hosted the group's sixth summit
in 2014.
The BRICS have received both praise and criticism from numerous quarters.
The term, "BRICS", was coined by economist Jim O'Neill in his publication, Building Better
Global Economic BRICs.
History The foreign ministers of the initial four
BRIC states met in New York City in September 2006, beginning a series of high-level meetings.
A full-scale diplomatic meeting was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on 16 May 2008.
First BRIC summit The BRIC grouping's first formal summit, also
held in Yekaterinburg, commenced on 16 June 2009, with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dmitry
Medvedev, Manmohan Singh, and Hu Jintao, the respective leaders of Brazil, Russia, India
and China, all attending.
The summit's focus was on means of improving the global economic situation and reforming
financial institutions, and discussed how the four countries could better co-operate
in the future.
There was further discussion of ways that developing countries, such as the BRIC members,
could become more involved in global affairs.
In the aftermath of the Yekaterinburg summit, the BRIC nations announced the need for a
new global reserve currency, which would have to be "diversified, stable and predictable".
Although the statement that was released did not directly criticise the perceived "dominance"
of the US dollar – something that Russia had criticised in the past – it did spark
a fall in the value of the dollar against other major currencies.
Entry of South Africa In 2010, South Africa began efforts to join
the BRIC grouping, and the process for its formal admission began in August of that year.
South Africa officially became a member nation on 24 December 2010, after being formally
invited by the BRIC countries to join the group.
The group was renamed BRICS – with the "S" standing for South Africa – to reflect the
group's expanded membership.
In April 2011, the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, attended the 2011 BRICS summit
in Sanya, China, as a full member.
Developments
The BRICS Forum, an independent international organisation encouraging commercial, political
and cultural cooperation between the BRICS nations, was formed in 2011.
In June 2012, the BRICS nations pledged $75 billion to boost the lending power of the
International Monetary Fund.
However, this loan was conditional on IMF voting reforms.
In late March 2013, during the fifth BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, the member
countries agreed to create a global financial institution which they intended to rival the
western-dominated IMF and World Bank.
After the summit, the BRICS stated that they planned to finalise the arrangements for this
new development bank by 2014.
However, disputes relating to burden sharing and location have slowed down the agreements.
At the BRICS leaders meeting in St. Petersburg in September 2013, China committed $41 billion
towards the pool; Brazil, India and Russia $18 billion each; and South Africa $5 billion.
China, holder of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves and who is to contribute
the bulk of the currency pool, wants a greater managing role, said one BRICS official.
China also wants to be the location of the reserve.
"Brazil and India want the initial capital to be shared equally.
We know that China wants more," said a Brazilian official.
"However, we are still negotiating, there are no tensions arising yet."
On 11th October 2013, Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that a decision on creating
a $100 billion fund designated to steady currency markets would be taken in early 2014.
The Brazilian finance minister, Guido Mantega stated that the fund would be created by March
2014.
However, by April 2014, the currency reserve pool and development bank had yet to be set
up, and the date was rescheduled to 2015.
One driver for the BRICS development bank is that the existing institutions primarily
benefit extra-BRICS corporations, and the political significance is notable because
it allows BRICS member states "to promote their interests abroad... and can highlight
the strengthening positions of countries whose opinion is frequently ignored by their developed
American and European colleagues."
In March 2014, at a meeting on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague,
the BRICS Foreign Ministers issued a communique that "noted with concern, the recent media
statement on the forthcoming G20 Summit to be held in Brisbane in November 2014.
The custodianship of the G20 belongs to all Member States equally and no one Member State
can unilaterally determine its nature and character."
In light of the tensions surrounding the 2014 Crimean crisis, the Ministers remarked that
"The escalation of hostile language, sanctions and counter-sanctions, and force does not
contribute to a sustainable and peaceful solution, according to international law, including
the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter."
This was in response to the statement of Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who had said
earlier that Putin might be barred from attending the G20 Summit in Brisbane.
In April 2014, Russian Ambassador at Large Vadim Lukov remarked that the dollar may be
replaced by the ruble and other national currencies of the BRICS counties, and that "A large part
of the fund goes toward saving the Euro and the national currencies of developed countries.
Given that governance of the IMF is in the hands of western powers, there is little hope
for assistance from the IMF in case of an emergency.
That is why the currency reserve pool would come in very handy."
In July 2014, the Governor of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said that
the "BRICS partners the establishment of a system of multilateral swaps that will allow
to transfer resources to one or another country, if needed" in an article which concluded that
"If the current trend continues, soon the dollar will be abandoned by most of the significant
global economies and it will be kicked out of the global trade finance.
Washington's bullying will make even former American allies choose the anti-dollar alliance
instead of the existing dollar-based monetary system."
Over the weekend of 13 July 2014 when the final game of the World Cup was held, and
in advance of the BRICS Fortaleza summit, Putin met his homologue Dilma Rouseff to discuss
the BRICS development bank, and sign some other bilateral accords on air defense, gas
and education.
Rouseff said that the BRICS countries "are among the largest in the world and cannot
content themselves in the middle of the 21st century with any kind of dependency."
The Fortaleza summit was followed by a BRICS meeting with the UNASUR presidents in Brasilia,
where the development bank and the monetary fund were introduced.
The development bank will have capital of $50 billion with each country contributing
$10 billion, while the monetary fund will have $100 billion at its disposal.
On 15 July 2014, the first day of the BRICS 6th summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, the group
of emerging economies signed the long-anticipated document to create the $100 billion BRICS
Development Bank and a reserve currency pool worth over another $100 billion.
Documents on cooperation between BRICS export credit agencies and an agreement of cooperation
on innovation were also inked.
Summits The grouping has held annual summits since
2009, with member countries taking turns to host.
Prior to South Africa's admission, two BRIC summits were held, in 2009 and 2010.
The first five-member BRICS summit was held in 2011.
The most recent BRICS summit took place in Fortaleza, Brazil, from 14 to 16 July 2014.
Member countries Economic data is sourced from the most recent
IMF figures and given in US dollars.
Potential members Indonesia and Turkey have been mentioned as
candidates for full membership of the BRICS, while Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria and
Syria have expressed interest in joining BRICS.
Criticism In 2012, Hu Jintao, who at the time was President
of China, described the BRICS countries as defenders and promoters of developing countries
and a force for world peace.
Some analysts have highlighted potential divisions and weaknesses in the grouping, including
significant economic instabilities, disagreements between the members over UN Security Council
reform, and India and China's disputes over territorial issues.
Current BRICS leaders
See also 6th BRICS summit
New Development Bank Economic Cooperation Organization
Emerging and growth-leading economies G8+5
Group of Two Group of 77
IBSA Dialogue Forum, a tripartite grouping of India, Brazil and South Africa
List of BRICS leaders List of potential superpowers
MINT, an group of middle powers of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey
Next Eleven References
External links Centre for Rising Powers, University of Cambridge
The BRICS Post – News website with a focus on the BRICS.
BRICS Information Centre.
University of Toronto.
Retrieved 29 June 2013.
"BRIC(S) nations have become growth markets for the world economy and are no longer emerging
markets".
China Daily.
13 April 2011.
Retrieved 17 June 2013.
"BRICS flame continues to shine".
Indrus.in. 29 February 2012.
Retrieved 17 June 2013.
"Goldman's O'Neill: Time to move beyond BRICs".
MarketWatch.com. 21 November 2011.
Retrieved 17 June 2013.
"United States should learn from emerging powers such as India and Brazil in the economic
arena".
Reuters. 14 October 2011.
Retrieved 17 June 2013.
"BRICS – Multi-format Cooperation".
Russian Business Council for Cooperation with India.
2011.
Retrieved 17 June 2013.
James D. Sidaway 'Geographies of Development: New Maps, New Visions?', The Professional
Geographer, 64:1, 49-62..
Retrieved 8 August 2013.
"The World Factbook".
Cia.gov.
Retrieved 15 July 2014.