BRICS needs greater self-reliance and remains connected and competitive through genuine market practices
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar says India’s Chairship has sought to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem through the BRICS incubator network and BRICS Startup Innovation Fund, stressing that the benefits must be accessible across the full spectrum of business communities.
Addressing the Opening Session of the ‘BRICS Business Forum’, he said India’s experience makes it a natural partner, with a large and growing market, expanding manufacturing capabilities, deeper pools of talent, digital experience and a dynamic innovation and entrepreneurial base.
He said the Forum’s most useful contribution would be to bring a clear business perspective to the next phase of BRICS cooperation, focusing on opportunities, challenges faced by businesses and what governments can do to address them, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) cited Jaishankar as saying in a press release on 11 Sept.
He highlighted that this year marks 20 years of institutionalised BRICS cooperation, during which BRICS has evolved substantially in membership, agenda and mechanisms of cooperation.
The EAM said India’s Chairship has sought to carry this evolution forward through the theme of resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability. He said these priorities are especially relevant as the global political and economic order undergoes churn, with volatility, uncertainty and complexity becoming defining features, while geopolitical conflicts, pandemics, climate-related disruptions, digitisation and technological advances are reshaping the economic landscape.
Dr Jaishankar said resilience has become a key component of the BRICS community, with the BRICS Business Council and BRICS Women’s Business Alliance playing an important role in bringing industry, entrepreneurs and business leaders into the BRICS process. He said supply chain connectivity and trade facilitation have emerged as crucial, alongside services, agriculture and agritechnology, digital delivery, MSMEs, startups and women-led enterprises.
He stressed the need for greater self-reliance while remaining connected and competitive through genuine market practices, dependable logistics, a predictable business environment, diversified commercial relationships and transparent trade and investment. He also highlighted digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, fintech and advanced manufacturing as major opportunities, while noting questions of access, standards, security and trust.
Maxim Reshetnikov, the Russian Minister of Economic Development added, “Russia strongly welcomes foreign businesses to enter our country. Today we are an economy of opportunity. Despite external pressure, our economy remains market-oriented.
“Our focus today is on structural transformation. BRICS countries represent a quarter of the global economy and a powerful voice for sustainable future. We stand for concrete steps to foster resilient supply chains, accelerate green and digital transitions, unlock the vast potential of our markets.”
Citing that BRICS accounting for nearly one-fourth of global trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal underlined the need for member and partner countries to build deeper, more resilient and balanced trade partnerships. Goyal emphasised greater market access, diversified supply chains and simpler regulatory procedures to unlock the full potential of economic cooperation. He expressed hope that the Forum would deliver significant outcomes and take economic dialogue and business partnerships among BRICS countries to the next level.
Goyal said India is an important pillar of intra-BRICS trade and highlighted the country’s strong capabilities in engineering goods and electronics, which account for the largest segment of India’s manufactured exports. He also noted that India is known as the pharmacy of the world. He said India sees BRICS as an important market for these and other products that it seeks to take to the world as a trusted partner.
Emphasising the importance of deep and resilient trade among partners, Goyal said supply chains must be diversified, and trade should not become an impediment to growth and the well-being of people in any member state. He called upon BRICS countries to open their markets for each other’s products, including raw materials and critical minerals.
Goyal highlighted India’s significant initiatives in laying out digital public infrastructure and said that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) today has over 250 billion transactions a year, representing more than half of transactions by volume across the world. He said UPI is also accepted in 11 countries and urged BRICS member and partner countries to link their payment systems, promote trade in each other’s local currencies, make digital trade global and build together for emerging technologies.
He said India brings strong capabilities across sectors including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, engineering, electronics, automobiles and auto components and services, and called for linking startup ecosystems as well. He said these trends offer significant scope for joint innovation, technology partnerships and resilient global value chains.
As India moves towards Viksit Bharat 2047, the collective goal that 1.4 billion Indians have set for themselves to make India a developed nation when the country celebrates 100 years of independence, Goyal said there is immense potential to deepen cooperation with BRICS members and partner countries. He expressed hope that the thematic sessions would lead to constructive and actionable recommendations to further strengthen intra-BRICS trade and economic cooperation.
Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology Jitin Prasada highlighted that BRICS Business Forum provides an opportunity to convert the strength of BRICS economies into concrete commercial results. He highlighted digital services, particularly artificial intelligence, as an important area of collaboration, noting its potential to improve productivity, standard of living, incomes and outcomes for individuals and MSMEs, while ensuring access to compute, particularly in the Global South.
Prasada stressed the need for greater technology exchange and cooperation in AI while keeping the United Nations at the centre of governance. On semiconductors, he highlighted India’s Semiconductor Mission 2.0 with a financial outlay of about US$13 billion in incentives and called for collaboration to develop the entire semiconductor ecosystem.
He also highlighted Digital Public Infrastructure and data centres as areas of cooperation, including sharing India’s best practices, and called for BRICS countries to co-develop, co-invest and co-innovate, with greater resources for research and development and startups to enable young people to access markets across international borders.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that BRICS represents a significant and growing market, with trade among BRICS countries rising from US$84 billion in 2003 to nearly US$1.2 trillion in 2024, according to the FICCI.
He emphasised preserving and revitalising the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core and supporting MSMEs through affordable working capital, with the Jaipur Consensus providing a foundation for exploring a common BRICS mechanism.
Agrawal highlighted strengthening global value chains through BRICS Connect, B2B partnerships, an annual BRICS Trade and Investment Expo, digital trade documentation and greater sectoral cooperation, including healthcare. He called for stronger economic integration just under the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy 2030 through cooperation, trust, innovation and shared prosperity. Concluding his statement, Shri Agrawal wished the BRICS Business Forum every success.
Jai Shroff, Chair, BRICS Business Council and Chairman & Group CEO, UPL Ltd, said, “Across BRICS economies lie large markets, natural resources, manufacturing capabilities, technology businesses, financial institutions, research capabilities and tremendous entrepreneurial energy. The real opportunity is to connect these strengths more effectively – helping companies find partners, startups access investors, and creating high-quality jobs.”
Avarna Jain, Chairperson, BRICS Women’s Business Alliance (WBA); Vice Chairperson, Saregama India Ltd, added, “True inclusion is about giving women access not only to transactions and capital, but also to opportunities to lead and make decisions. India is demonstrating this shift at scale. Sharing such experiences through platforms like BRICS can further strengthen women-led economic growth.”
Anant Goenka, Member, BRICS Business Council; President, FICCI and Vice Chairman, RPG Group, said, “The strength of BRICS will ultimately be measured by delivery—in creating new customers, building new partnerships and unlocking new investment. Our economies can combine their complementary strengths to create greater opportunities for businesses and shared growth.”
Nirmal K Minda, President, Assocham and Chairman, Uno Minda Ltd, said, ““India’s BRICS Chairship comes at a crucial juncture for the global economy. BRICS has emerged as a powerful platform for economic cooperation. The next phase should focus on deepening trade and investment through greater trust, transparency and business-to-business partnerships. Stronger engagement among BRICS economies can unlock new opportunities, strengthen resilience, accelerate economic diversification and contribute significantly to shaping a more balanced and inclusive new world economic order.”
R Mukundan, President, CII and MD & CEO, Tata Chemicals Ltd, said, “BRICS today represents not only significant economic scale but also major opportunity to shape the next phase of global growth. At a time with geo-political uncertainty and rapid technological disruptions, the case for deeper economic cooperation upon BRCIS economies have become even more stronger.” Fiinews.com
