BRICS trade ministers eye synergy in services, IPR on Thursday

The bloc comprising five countries has 42% of the world population and a combined GDP of over $16 trillion

India will host a meeting of BRICS trade ministers on Thursday during which the leaders will adopt a framework to enhance economic co-operation among the member nations.

The meeting, which will be hosted by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will be attended by her counterparts from Brazil, China, Russia, and South Africa.

During the day-long deliberation on October 13, the ministers will adopt the framework for co-operation dealing in SMEs, services, intellectual property rights (IPRs), trade promotion, non-tariff measures resolution and standardisation, an official said.

The ministers will also pick a template for BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) single-window co-operation.

Discussion to boost trade in services takes on significance as India recently floated a concept note at WTO to agree to a trade facilitation agreement in services on the lines of one for goods that was signed by the WTO members.

Besides, the official said, a joint communique will be issued at the end of the deliberations.

Sitharaman will also hold bilateral deliberations with all the trade ministers during the day. These meetings will be followed by the BRICS Summit to be held on October 15-16 in Goa.

The bloc comprising five countries has 42 per cent of the world population and a combined GDP of over $16 trillion.

To push trade among the BRICS nations, India, for the first time, is organising a trade fair on the same day. The fair will be a platform for respective BRICS countries to exhibit state-of-the-art technologies and advances made in industrial development.

Intra-BRICS trade grew to $297 billion in 2014, from $281.4 billion in 2012.

Business leaders from BIMSTEC countries (Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal) have been invited to meetings and discussions with the BRICS business leaders and the companies at the fair.