BRICS summit opens in Russia

The 16th BRICS Summit opened in Kazan on October 22. The three-day event will be attended by heads of state from more than 30 countries and international organizations, as well as many prominent politicians. Important negotiations and historic agreements are planned.

In 2024, Russia holds the rotating BRICS presidency, which is why the summit is being held there. And just in 2024, an unprecedented second expansion of BRICS took place, adding members Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Ethiopia.

“BRICS is increasingly attracting supporters and like-minded people – countries that share the same fundamental principles that underpin their activities,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in January 2024, when Russia took over the rotating presidency.

“The basis is “sovereign equality, respect for the choice of one's own development path, consideration of mutual interests, openness, consensus, the desire to form a multipolar world order and a fair model of the global financial and trade system, the search for collective solutions to the most pressing problems of our time” – the Russian leader added.

In this spirit, the BRICS motto for 2024 is “Strengthening multilateralism for equitable global development and security”.

Joint cooperation at BRICS to promote socio-economic growth and ensure sustainable development brings concrete and clear results.

BRICS's total GDP is more than 60,000 billion USD, its share in global GDP is 37.4% (compared to G7's 29.3%). BRICS accounts for about 1/4 of global merchandise exports.

This 16th summit will be the largest yet. Azerbaijan, Algeria, Malaysia, Syria, Thailand and many other countries (30 countries) have expressed their desire to join BRICS. Some countries have already submitted formal applications.

Türkiye, despite being a NATO member, is firmly committed to multilateralism. Moscow has confirmed that Ankara’s membership application has been accepted. Meanwhile, Serbia, which has been trying unsuccessfully to join the European Union for years, sees BRICS as a viable alternative to the EU.

The BRICS summit in Kazan will be held in two stages. First, on October 22 and 23, will be a meeting of BRICS members.

More countries will join the event over the next two days. Invitations have been sent to 38 countries. The attendance of representatives from 32 countries, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has been confirmed.

BRICS International Forum Chair Purnima Anand, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' attendance at the BRICS Summit in Kazan shows how important the association has become to the West.

“The UN Secretary General will also come, so this shows that this BRICS summit has international significance and this is not only an association of BRICS and 30 countries interested in becoming members of the BRICS group, but the presence of the UN also shows that this BRICS group has become very important to the West and the US,” said Ms. Anand.