From RT.
Trade between BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — has increased 70 percent since the group was established in 2009, according to a report in the Russian government news agency, RT.
South Africa was the fifth and last member to join the group in 2010.
The economies of the five BRICS nations account for almost 30 percent of global gross domestic product, South African President Jacob Zuma told reporters Thursday in Cape Town.
“BRICS presents an aggregate GDP exceeding $32 trillion,” Zuma said. “This marks a 60-percent growth since the formation of the grouping.”
BRICS countries produce a third of the world’s industrial products and half of all agricultural goods.
They attracted 20.5 percent of total global direct investment in 2014, an increase of 3.5 percent over 5 years.
“The share of BRICS capital investment on the global markets has also increased significantly from 9.7 percent to 14 percent since 2009,” Zuma said.
The seventh BRICS summit was held last month in Russia. Its key achievement was the “entry into force of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement,” Zuma said.
The New Development Bank opened in Shanghai July 21 with a view to deploying $50 billion in initial capital to fund infrastructure and sustainable development projects.
The world’s major banks “see the BRICS bank as an important additional factor in global financial transactions,” said Zuma. The establishment of New Development Bank’s African Regional Centre in Johannesburg is among the group’s plans for the near future, he added.
Read more at RT.