The event brings together some 4,000 participants from 37 countries and international organizations
The 17th annual BRICS summit kicked off on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which currently holds the group’s rotating presidency. The two-day event is dedicated to multilateral cooperation, as well as various global development and governance issues.
Brazil has named six priorities for this year’s agenda: global health cooperation; trade, investment, and finance; climate change; AI governance; reform of the multilateral peace and security system; and institutional development within BRICS.
This year’s summit brings together around 4,000 participants from 37 nations, including senior dignitaries from member states, partner countries, and international bodies, according to earlier estimates by Brazilian officials.
This year, the Russian delegation is led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. President Vladimir Putin has joined the plenary session – ‘Strengthening Multilateralism, Economic-Financial Affairs, and Artificial Intelligence’ – via video link.
BRICS was founded, primarily as an economic group in 2006, by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. Over the past year, the bloc extended full membership to Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.
Last year, at the group’s summit in the Russian city of Kazan, BRICS approved a new ‘partner country’ status in response to a growing membership interest shown by more than 30 countries.
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