The Brazilian government announced Saturday that the next BRICS summit will take place in Rio de Janeiro on July 6-7. File photo of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Brazilian government announced Saturday that the next BRICS summit will take place in Rio de Janeiro on July 6-7.

Brazil will chair the bloc of developing economies through 2025 and said it will focus on promoting global governance reform and cooperation among Global South countries, according to a statement from the federal government.

BRICS was established in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010 as a counterbalance to the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations.

Last year, the bloc expanded by adding Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has also been invited to join. Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Malaysia have formally applied for membership, and several other countries have expressed interest.

Recently, the bloc welcomed Indonesia as one of its 11 members and Nigeria as a “partner country,” a designation introduced at the 2024 summit in Kazan.

Brazil said the partner countries are also invited to participate in the summit and may attend other meetings if there is consensus among members.

“We will make crucial decisions for development, cooperation, and improving the lives of all the inhabitants of these countries,” said Mauro Vieira, Brazil’s foreign minister.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS nations if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. BRICS leaders have expressed their commitment to establishing an alternative payment system independent of the dollar.

Rio de Janeiro:

Leaders of the countries known as BRICS will hold a summit in Rio de Janeiro in July, the current chair Brazil announced Saturday.

Other members of the trading bloc include Russia, India, China and South Africa and others.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said on the social media platform X that the summit will be held July 6-7 and feature leaders of 20 countries with full or associate status in the bloc.

At this meeting “we will make very important decisions for the development of all these countries, for cooperation and for improving the living conditions of all their inhabitants,” Vieira said.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on the BRICS countries if they undercut the US dollar.

At a BRICS summit in October in Russia, the member countries discussed boosting non-dollar transactions and strengthening local currencies.

The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that under the Brazilian presidency the BRICS bloc will focus on strengthening cooperation with developing nations of the so-called Global South and on reforming multilateral institutions.

He said Brazil’s priorities for the bloc include “developing means of payment” to encourage trade and investment among member states.

Last month, Brazil’s chief negotiator for the BRICS group, Eduardo Saboia, told AFP there is no concrete plan to replace the dollar but rather talks on using local currencies in transactions.

The BRICS group has expanded significantly since its inception in 2009, and now includes countries such as Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

Altogether the BRICS coalition accounts for a significant minority of the world’s economic output.

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