In 2001, Goldman Sachs analyst Jim O’Neill predicted that over the next 10 years, Brazil, Russia, India and China (the ‘BRIC’) will form a significant share of world GDP and this should be taken into account when formulating global economic policy.
What was originally an economic grouping consisting of four countries has now expanded to include a fifth, South Africa. It has also morphed into a semi-formal institution, with each of the members holding annual summits where they assemble to discuss intra-BRICS cooperation.
The BRICS have now formed a BRICS Bank, a Contingent Reserve Arrangement and even a Think Tank Council. The 8th BRICS Summit held in Goa recently saw 120 events, including trade fairs, an Academic Forum and even a film festival, being organised by the Government. Intra-BRICS trade has increased significantly, but the Goa Declaration has pointed out that there is scope for more: it has stressed the importance of the BRICS Roadmap for Trade, Economic and Investment Cooperation until 2020. It has emphasised the need for close ties between the sectoral cooperation mechanisms – the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues, the BRICS Business Council, New Development Bank and the BRICS Interbank — to strengthen the BRICS economic partnership.
This infographic seeks to trace the evolution of BRICS from O’Neill’s vision to its current form and show how intra-BRICS trade has evolved over the past 15 years (six in the case of South Africa).
Lina Lee is a Research Intern at Gateway House
Devanshi Jain is Social Media Manager at Gateway House
Designed by Debarpan Das
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