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BRICS Long-Term Strategy

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It is paramount to mention the construction of the internet regime. BRICS 

constitutes one of the most massive and rapidly growing segments of the global 

internet community, accounting for 38 per cent of the world’s internet audience. 

Yet its participation in the debates over global internet and cyber governance is 

marginal. Joint initiatives should be adopted to change this scenario.

There is, therefore, no lack of subjects to be incorporated into a common 

agenda for BRICS, and it is fortunate that its members aim to have a proactive 

approach in terms of their role both in influencing global governance as well as in 

fostering partnership and cooperation. The main challenge they face is to avoid 

too great a widening of the agenda and to maintain focus on the relevant issues.

The BTTC is an important instrument to deal with these difficulties. Among 

its basic purposes, priority is given to channelling suggestions from civil society, 

as well as stimulating and coordinating research efforts linked to specific matters 

of interest to BRICS.

CHAPTER 1

PROMOTING COOPERATION FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH  
AND DEVELOPMENT

PILLAR

To safeguard the gains BRICS nations have made, they should consider promoting cooperation for 
growth and development among themselves and through dialogue with other like-minded partners. 
To this end, BRICS could consider market integration in the areas of trade, foreign investment and 
capital markets to counteract the effects of negative global trends. In addition, member states 
could work towards greater BRICS consultation and cooperation in economic and financial bodies 
such as the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF) and collaborate using existing cooperative frameworks to collectively position themselves by 
fostering intra-BRICS consensus on substantial issues of mutual agreement.

1 CURRENT SITUATION

At present, these five countries account for over 40 per cent of the world’s population 
and, despite the recent deceleration, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa 
accounted for 29.5 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) (based on 
purchasing power parity – PPP) in 2013, a figure that is forecast to rise to about 
one third by the end of the decade (IMF, 2014). The BRICS countries have often 
been regarded as some of the fastest growing economies and the engines of the 
global economic recovery, which underscores the changing role of these economies 
in the world. They were also influential at the G20 in shaping macroeconomic 
policies in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis. Promoting cooperation for 
economic growth and development is a long-term strategy of the BRICS countries, 
which is also reflected in the Fortaleza Declaration.

1.1 Overall scenario

The BRICS countries comprise a huge share of the world’s land mass, and as a 
result own a vast amount of natural resources. Each of the BRICS countries has 
some unique attributes and thus has great prospects for developing in its own way.

It is widely perceived that over the next few decades the world’s largest de-

veloping countries, particularly the BRICS, fuelled by their fast economic growth, 

could become a much more significant force in the world economy. 

The inherent strength of the BRICS countries emanates from their strong 

domestic-demand-driven growth model, in the cases of India and Brazil, and the 
significant outward linkages of China and Russia. South Africa benefits from its 

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large resource base and proximity to the untapped growth potential on the African 
continent. Currently, all BRICS economies have consolidated their positions as the 
main engines for sustaining the pace of the international economy as it recovers 
from the recent global economic and financial crisis. 

The BRICS nations’ economic growth and social inclusion policies have 

helped to stabilise the global economy, foster the creation of jobs, reduce poverty 
and combat inequality, thus contributing to the achievement of the Millennium 
Development Goals (see Chapter 3). BRICS will continue to play a significant role 
in promoting social development and in contributing to define the international 
agenda in this area. 

The BRICS post-2015 development goals have been in accordance with 

the post-2015 agenda objectives and policy priorities set by the United Nations 
(2013). The report 

A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform 

Economies through Sustainable Development

 sets out the post-2015 roadmap of 

international development, including the goal to eliminate extreme poverty by 
2030 and realise sustainable development commitments. This report sets five key 
objectives for the post-2015 United Nations agenda: from “reducing poverty” to 
“eliminate extreme poverty”, every country should work together; make sustainable 
development the centrepiece of the growth strategy; carry out economic rebalancing 
to promote employment and inclusive growth; establish a peaceful, effective, open 
and accountable system; and build a new global partnership based on cooperation, 
equality and human rights.

On 6 June 2013, the Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development 

Solutions Network submitted the 

Action Agenda for Sustainable Development

 to the 

UN Secretary-General. It outlines ten sustainable development priorities, covering 
four main dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth and poverty 
elimination, social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and good governance 
(UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 2013). Based on the concept of 
sustainable development, this report defines ten policy priorities in the context of 
the UN post-2015 agenda: to end extreme poverty including hunger; to promote 
economic growth and respectable job growth within the planetary boundaries; to 
ensure effective learning for all children and youth for life and livelihood; to achieve 
gender equality, social inclusion and human rights for all; to achieve health and 
well-being at all ages; to improve agriculture productivity and raise rural prosperity; 
to empower inclusive, productive and resilient cities; to curb human-induced 
climate changes and ensure use of clean energy for all; to secure biodiversity and 
ensure good management of water, oceans, forests and natural resources; and to 
transform governance and technologies for sustainable development (ibid.).

Promoting Cooperation for Economic Growth and Development

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1.2 Economic growth and development of the BRICS countries

Among the BRICS countries, China, followed by India, are the fastest-growing econo-

mies in the current decade. Between 1978 and 2009 the Chinese economy grew at 

an average annual rate of 9.9 per cent, well above the world average for that period. 

The economic performance of Russia and Brazil also improved significantly after the 

financial crises of the 1990s. Continued economic reforms and improved macroeco-

nomic fundamentals, along with a buoyant macroeconomic environment, contributed 

to the growth performance of the BRICS nations over the current decade (IMF, 2011).

These macroeconomic fundamentals are reflected by high savings and 

investment rates, barring Brazil and South Africa, which still have much room 

to increase these rates. South Africa’s investment rate has increased strongly over 

the past decade as the government and other public enterprises have stepped up 

efforts in infrastructure investment, but overall investment is still constrained by 

the low national savings rate.

TABLE 1

Gross domestic investment and savings in BRICS

(In % of GDP)

Country

1995

2000

2006

2010

Brazil

Investment

18.0

18.3

16.8

19.3

Saving

16.5

16.5

19.7

17.0

Russia

Investment

25.4

18.7

21.4

19.8

Saving

28.8

38.7

34.1

24.7

India

Investment

26.6

24.2

36

37.9

Saving

25.4

23.2

32.9

34.7

China

Investment

41.9

35.1

43.6

48.8

Saving

44.1

37.5

51.3

54.0

South Africa

Investment

18.2

15.9

19.7

21.7

Saving

16.5

15.8

14.4

20.0

Source: World Bank database.

China has the highest savings and investment rates of the BRICS countries, 

followed by India. Their investment-driven growth model was largely financed by 

domestic savings. High savings and investments have also helped to reduce the 

share of net exports to GDP in these two countries. 

The salient features of the BRICS economies are their large geographical area 

and the size of their population. It is widely perceived that all the BRICS markets 

have great potential for establishing a prosperous middle class, which serves as a 

stabilising force in society. This middle-income group in each country is growing 

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at varying rates, but the direction is clear: the middle-class population will 

continue to expand in several BRICS countries in both size and disposable income, 

providing a solid base for further growth.

The collective strength of the BRICS economies is becoming increas-

ingly important to the strength of the global economy. While the mature 

economies across the globe are grappling with the issues of towering budget 

deficits, anaemic growth and rising unemployment, the BRICS nations, albeit 

still negatively impacted, can nevertheless tackle these challenges by looking 

internally for more domestic-consumption-driven or investment-induced 

growth opportunities. 

While there cannot be a single, simplistic, one-size-fits-all explanation for 

the BRICS nations’ complex economic and social development phenomena, a 

remarkable confluence of events marked the beginning of a new era of globalisation 

roughly two or three decades ago:

Brazil 

Brazil’s reform efforts have taken place since 1990. The Brazilian economy is led 

by a group of world-leading firms along with a relatively large number of firms 

engaging in labour-intensive activities, which account for 60 per cent of the urban 

workforce (Reisen, 2013).

Russia 

After initially falling into a recession arguably as a result of the “shock therapy’”of 

the 1990s, Russia has experienced significant growth driven mostly by the natural 

resource sector, as opposed to diversifying into high-value-added activities. 

At the same time Russia managed to develop a market economy, and many 

Russian enterprises successfully modernised their equipment and technologies 

within the last decade. This could be a starting point for improving the structure 

of production.

India 

Elections in India in 1991 brought a pro-reform government to power. India’s 

economic direction shifted from that point forward, with its tightly controlled and 

inward-looking economy gradually deregulated and opened up. India’s growth has 

been driven primarily by three sectors (information technology, pharmaceuticals 

and automobiles), which have been brought to the forefront of international 

competitiveness, leaving behind the previous import-substitution policies.