The 17th BRICS Summit, July 6 – 7 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Originally composed of Brazil, Russia, India & China, then expanded to include South Africa.  The first since Indonesia joined as 11th member and Vietnam came aboard as a key partner.  Now with six more members, the group is positioning itself as a powerful voice for the global south with GDP in purchasing power parity larger than the G7’s, prioritizing partnerships to foster social, economic and environmental development.

The group expects to preserve a multilateral system and the global economic order, to help countries reduce poverty and to increase the prosperity of their societies.