BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Together, BRICS accounts for about 40% of the world’s population and about 30% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
In 2001, the British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC to describe the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
The grouping was formalised during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers in 2006 and the first BRIC Summit took place in 2009 in the Russian Federation.
South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS.
The chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.
During the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (2014) the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB). NDB is headquartered in Shanghai.
They also signed the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement. The BRICS CRA aims to provide short-term liquidity support to the members through currency swaps to help mitigating BOP crisis situations and further strengthen financial stability.
Cooperation among BRICS member countries is achieved through:
Track I: Formal diplomatic engagement between the national governments.
Track II: Engagement through government-affiliated institutions, e.g. state-owned enterprises and business councils.
Track III: Civil society and People-to-People engagement.
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