BRICS trade ministers meet ahead of Delhi summit

Ministers met in Sanya before the summit, opening a regular forum for trade policy and economic cooperation.

The Sanya summit formally welcomed South Africa in the leaders’ forum and stressed solidarity, development and broader dialogue with emerging and developing countries.

BRICS leaders asked for more representative international institutions, including the UN Security Council, and stronger developing-country voices in economic governance.

Health ministers proposed cooperation and technology transfer to improve access to affordable medicines and other public-health goods.

The five ministers and central bank representatives discussed global instability and called for coordinated solutions and reform of the international financial system.

The New Delhi summit linked global stability and development, called for more representative governance and addressed trade, health and sustainable development.

The Delhi Declaration directed finance ministers to study the feasibility of a new development bank for infrastructure and sustainable development in BRICS and other developing countries.

The banks agreed on credit facilities in local currencies to facilitate transactions and reduce dependence on fully convertible currencies in intra-BRICS trade.

A second agreement between development and export banks aimed to support trade finance among member countries.

At the end of the Durban forum, researchers advanced a declaration to establish continuing coordination among think tanks in the five countries.