Jun. 16 – The world’s largest emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India and China – collectively known as BRIC, held their first summit today in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
The summit is happening on the heels of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the same city. Members of the BRIC nations contribute 15 percent of the world’s US$60.7 trillion economy. The first summit will focus on the changes to the world financial system after the economic crisis.
“These four countries are all quite influential in international economic development, and I think if in the meeting they raise some proposals and initiatives, that would be fair and reasonable,” Wu Hailong, a senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official told Reuters.
He added: “Especially, some countries have proposed establishing a super-sovereign currency, and I think their impetus is ensuring the security of each country’s foreign currency reserves.”
The event reflects Russia’s clout to host two summits, the SCO and the BRIC, back-to-back. It also hints that Russia is fostering alternative alliances in addition to the G8, where it has been in disagreement with other members.
Chinese and Russian officials have also deterred from highlighting the issue of a supranational reserve currency to reduce dependency on the U.S. dollar. The term BRIC was coined by a Goldman Sachs economist named Jim O’Neill in 2001 to collectively describe the power of emerging market economies.
