Civil BRICS Forum proposed recommendations for leaders of countries

The Forum focused on representatives of the academic community, non-commercial organizations of BRICS member states to coordinate their positions and draft recommendations for leaders of countries with dynamically growing economies in such directions as: strengthening of health care and education systems, creation of unified scientific and cultural space, assistance to sustainable development, development of economy and commerce, ensuring peace and security.

Economic and trade issues were among keys ones debated at the Forum. Today, the share of BRICS member states constitute 25% of the global GDP, meanwhile their trade turnover does not exceed 10% of their total trade volume. Nevertheless, the countries possess an undoubted potential for widening trade and economic cooperation.  

Special importance such cooperation makes in view of strengthening industrial policy of BRICS member states characterized by internationalization, widening of export, attraction of foreign investment, gradual technological re-equipment of industrial facilities. These trends determine chances for global cooperation, labor division and trade cooperation.

Measures designed to overcome resource dependence can induce BRICS member states to cooperate in the development of high tech sectors, such as aircraft industry, medicine and information technologies. At the same time, it is important to secure institutional platform for such cooperation including protection of intellectual property by way of harmonization of national legislation norms.  
Taking into consideration the role of the countries in modern global economy as well as emerging new global challenges, attendees recommended for BRICS leaders to work on the following directions:
-    strengthening of cooperation and coordination of positions on issues of economy and trade at the international level (WTO, G20), as well as in the framework of bilateral basis;
-    ensuring deep dialogue between countries producers of raw materials  in mining sectors to ensure transparency of raw materials business and coordination of extraction volumes for harmonization of markets, protection from unlawful ways of mining, employment of illegal labor, as well as environment protection;
-    concentration of efforts aimed at formation of technological alliances and implementation of mutual technological projects as well as regulation of right on intellectual property in order to promote trade and development.

Forum’s separate proposal was to create consultative council on trade policy aimed at monitoring and development of recommendation on improvement of trade regime.

Yury Zaitsev – senior researcher