BRICS countries include: Brazil, Russia, Indian, China, and South Africa
SUMMARY
On Wednesday, July 25, 2018, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa opened the 10th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, Indian, China, and South Africa) summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. A number of major agreements concluded the summit, including:
- BRICS countries will together embark upon the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” an inter-country initiative aimed at promoting technological advances, such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
- BRICS countries adopted the Johannesburg Declaration, confirming the principles of democracy, inclusiveness, and fights against unilateralism and protectionism.
As for bilateral agreements, Chinese president Xi Jinping promised to invest $14.7 billion in South Africa, with $2.8 directed to support Eskom, a state utility company recently struggling with financial issues.
FAO GLOBAL ASSESSMENT
For U.S. firms already involved or wanting to get involved in BRICS countries, consideration needs to be taken for how the relations between these five countries may evolve and how those changes might impact their business needs. While the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has yet to be felt, tech companies should be ready to jump on opportunities as they come. Most large projects see heavy involvement by Chinese state owned companies, but potentially smaller and lateral facing projects will hold more opportunities for US businesses to be directly involved.
SOURCES
- Xinhua: Int’l community eyes outcomes of BRICS Summit in Johannesburg
- CNBC: The world’s major emerging economies could end up benefiting from global trade tensions
- The BRICS Post: BRICS agree to joint work on ‘Fourth Revolution’, cryptocurrencies
- Brookings Institute: Africa in the news: BRICS summit aftermath, South Sudan power-sharing agreement, and Zimbabwe election prep
- Southcn.com: BRICS countries cooperation and three outcomes (‘金砖国家合作再添三大成果’)
About the Author
Ziqing Zhang- International Policy Associate
Ziqing “Sunny” Zhang is an international policy intern and a Masters student in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington where she is majoring in Asian Studies with a concentration in international development and focusing on East Asia and development in Southeast Asia. A native Chinese speaker, Ziqing is fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese as well as English. She has previously interned at the U.S.-China Education Trust, the Japan-American Society of Washington, DC, and is an alum of American University in Washington, DC.
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