The summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations is expected to be held in 2024 in Kazan, Russia, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has stepped in to host the summit as Brazil finds it logistically challenging to organize two such events in the same year.
Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan is the upcoming host for the BRICS legal and political heads of states. Kazan, the capital city of Tatarstan, is also called the ‘third capital of Russia’ owing to its vibrant and picturesque attractions including the plush mosques, cathedrals and the marvelous Kremlin. This city has been a popular tourist spot and a major cultural hub.
This is the first time a BRICS member has elected not to hold the summit itself, presumably due to the logistical circumstances wherein Brazil would have been hosting the G20 and the BRICS summit in the same year. Since 2020, all BRICS summits had to be conducted virtually due to the Covid-19 situation. This year, South Africa will be hosting the BRICS Summit in Durban following physical distancing guidelines.
Under its Presidency, Brics has plans to fortify value-added trade, investment, as well as promote an exchange of views between member states on the utilization of intellectual property for development. Additionally, the Summit seeks to establish an exchanging system for trade settlements using the national currencies of member countries. The transaction system has been adopted by India and Russia, in the form of Rupee-Ruble trade. Similarly, China and Brazil have entrenched an agreement to conduct trade through exchanging RMB Yuan and Brazilian real. Currently, China is Brazil’s largest trading partner with a record of $150 billion in bilateral trade. India has also commenced trading in national currencies with certain countries and banks.
This article also mentions the persons and companies that have played a role in making this happen. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, has signed the decree to allow the Republic of Tatarstan to be the host of the BRICS summit in 2024. On the other hand, India, China and Brazil have all initiated a system for mutual currency exchange, allowing for transactions to occur directly between these countries. In addition, the companies China and Brazil have been trading heavily with each other, in 2020 reaching an approximate trade value of $150 billion.
Overall, the BRICS summit is a significant event in the international economic and political scene, and the changes made this year to accommodate the logistical challenges have proved that the members of the association are willing to strive for effective solutions.
