Brazilian 2019 BRICS Presidency

In 2019, Brazil holds the rotating presidency of BRICS, the group including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The rotating presidency is responsible for establishing the group’s priorities and for coordinating nearly 100 annual meetings, including those at the ministerial level, of several forums and working groups aimed at debating and presenting a wide range of joint initiatives in issues concerning economy, trade, finance, science and technology, culture, health, security, society and management.

The first coordinating meeting, to be held on March 13-15, in Curitiba, will mark the beginning of the Brazilian rotating presidency formal activities. The meeting, held at the level of ‘sherpas’ (deputy foreign ministers with oversight for BRICS issues), will discuss priorities for the year and review the development of cooperation initiatives in progress.

Together, the four other BRICS members were the destination for 30.7 per cent of Brazilian exports in 2018. The value of goods imported by those four countries totaled 73.8 billion dollars (compared to 56.4 billion dollars in 2017). 23.8 per cent of Brazilian imports came from those countries, accounting for 43.1 billion dollars. Brazil had a positive trade balance with BRICS, with a surplus of 30.7 billion dollars (compared to 23 billion dollars in 2017), which accounts for 52 per cent of Brazil’s trade surplus in that year.