New Delhi / March 27, 2012

India is hosting the Fourth BRICS Summit in New Delhi on March 29. On the preceding day, i.e. tomorrow the Commerce & Trade Ministers of the five member national – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are meeting for the Second Trade Ministers Meeting.

Highlighting the context of the meeting, Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma said “there is a large untapped growth potential of intra-BRICS trade and investments which we are presently focusing on for exploitation.”

BRICS Development Banks are in the advanced stages of concluding Agreements on Extending Credit Facility in Local Currencies, and Multilateral Letter of Credit Confirmation Facility Agreement to facilitate further consolidation of trade and investment ties.

A number of new areas for deepening intra BRICS cooperation are expected to be discussed at the meeting of the Ministers on March 28. The recommendations of the Ministers would feed into the Summit being hosted by India on March 29.

The five Trade Ministers are also expected to jointly inaugurate the Business Forum that is being organized jointly by the three major Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry – i.e CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM. Over 500 business leaders from the five countries are expected to attend this forum.

Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) was established following BRICS Trade Ministers meeting in Sanya, China in April 2011. The CGETI is entrusted with the task of proposing an institutional framework and concrete measures to expand economic cooperation both among BRICS countries and between BRICS countries and all developing countries, within a South-South perspective. The CGETI has met twice so far i.e. on 2 December 2011, in Beijing, China and on 6-7 March, 2012 in New Delhi.

As per UNCTAD data the share of BRICS economies in the Global Trade has been increasing over the years. In 2010 it stood at 15 per cent up from 13.7 per cent the year before. In 2010-11 India had total trade worth US$ 7.5 billion with Brazil. During the same period trade with Russia was US$ 5. 2 billion, with China US$ 63.1 billion and with South Africa US$ 11.1 billion.

A Plan of Action was endorsed at the Sanya Summit to strengthen cooperation among BRICS countries in areas of security, finance, business links, agriculture, health, culture, sports, science and technology and green economy. The Delhi Summit aims to build on these measures and also identify new areas for intensive cooperation. The theme of the BRICS summit is Partnership for Stability, Security and Growth.

PIB Del/DS