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BRICS and Brazilian international trade
Over the past decade, BRICS, a bloc formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa gained prominence due to the increase of its participation in world economy, and has been singled out as the driving force behind recent global economic growth. The BRICS meeting is held annually and discusses several issues, with two main guidelines: coordination at meetings of international organizations, in the economic, financial and political spheres; And the construction of a multi-sector cooperation agenda among its members, which already includes more than 30 topics discussed within BRICS.
Among the most promising aspects, we highlight the economic-financial one, in which two important instruments have already been signed. The first concerns the creation of the New Development Bank, which would aim to finance projects in infrastructure and sustainable development in emerging countries; And the Reserve Contingency Arrangement, to be used to support BRICS members at the time of their balance of payments fluctuation.
The last BRICS meeting took place on October 15 and 16 in Goa, India. The event had five main goals: to strengthen the construction of the BRICS institution, deepening relations among member countries; to implement the decisions of previous editions; to integrate existing cooperation mechanisms; to create new cooperation mechanisms; and to continue the cooperation mechanisms already in operation.
Currently, the BRICS countries together account for 30% of world GDP and hold 17% of the international trade. Apparently, the formation of the group has been interesting for Brazil, at least as far as international trade goes. In 2015, Brazil exported about USD $ 43 billion to the rest of the group, nearly 23% of our total exports. At the same time, it imported USD $ 37.85 billion, equivalent to 22.2% of total imports in 2015, with a positive trade balance with Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Compared to 2009, when the first BRICS summit took place, trade between Brazil and other countries was more modest, totaling USD $ 28.5 billion in exports (18.9% of the total) and USD $ 19.4 billion Billion in imports (15.1% of the total).
Although this evolution in international trade between Brazil and other members of the BRICS can not be fully attributed to the formation of the group, it is certainly part of the cooperation agreements formulated between the countries. With the maturation of the bloc it is expected greater interaction among members, new opportunities for business and cooperation, and greater influence in international organizations, such as in the decisions of the International Monetary Fund, in the United Nations and its Security Council, increasing the strenght of developing countries in international governance.
