BRICS (Syllabus: GS Paper 2– IR)

Context: India warmly received Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia joining BRICS, as their representatives participated for the first time in a significant meeting hosted by Russia.

BRICS

• About : It is a grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies.
• Headquarters: Shanghai.
• Members: Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
• Five New Members: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates
• Origin:

oThe term was originally coined in 2001 as "BRIC" by the Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in his report, Building Better Global Economic BRICs.

oForeign ministers of these countries began meeting informally in 2006, which led to more formal annual summits beginning in 2009.

oIn 2010, South Africa joined the informal group and changed the acronym to BRICS.

• First BRIC Summit: Held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June 2009.
• Economic Significance : It contribute to around 23% of the global GDP and around 18% of Global Trade.
• Demography: It represents around 41% of global Population.
• Territory: It comprise 30% of the world’s territory.

BRICS Initiative

• New Development Bank: It  finances projects and innovates tailored solutions to help build a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable future for the planet.
• Members: BRICS members + Bangladesh , UAE , Egypt.
• Shareholding:  Brazil , Russia , India , China , South Africa each  have equal and larger share of 18.98% than other member country.
• Contingent Reserve Arrangement: It is a framework for the provision of support through liquidity and precautionary instruments in response to actual or potential short-term balance of payments pressures.