Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal Calls for Deeper BRICS Trade Cooperation
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal addressed the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi, emphasizing the need for deeper, more resilient and balanced trade partnerships among BRICS member and partner countries. With BRICS accounting for nearly one-fourth of global trade, and intra-BRICS trade having grown from USD 84 billion in 2003 to nearly USD 1.2 trillion in 2024, Goyal highlighted the significant potential for further economic cooperation.
Goyal called for greater market access, diversified supply chains, and simpler regulatory procedures, noting that non-tariff measures impose higher export costs than tariffs themselves for 88% of countries. He specifically urged BRICS members to open markets for each other's products, including raw materials and critical minerals, and to work together to simplify regulatory procedures and facilitate faster clearance of consignments.
Key Areas of Cooperation and Indian Capabilities
The Minister highlighted several specific areas for enhanced cooperation, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, engineering, electronics, automobiles and auto components, services, startups, and emerging technologies. He urged BRICS countries to encourage agri-tech startups to develop joint solutions for farmers and to open their services markets to facilitate the movement of professionals across borders and recognize each other's professional qualifications.
Goyal emphasized India's strong capabilities across multiple sectors, noting that engineering goods and electronics account for the largest segment of India's manufactured exports, and that India is known as the 'pharmacy of the world.' He also highlighted India's digital public infrastructure, specifically the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which processes over 250 billion transactions annually representing more than half of global transactions by volume, and is accepted in 11 countries.
Financial and Digital Infrastructure Initiatives
Goyal urged BRICS member and partner countries to link their payment systems, promote trade in each other's local currencies, and make digital trade global. Minister of State Jitin Prasada highlighted digital services, particularly artificial intelligence, as an important area of collaboration, and mentioned India's Semiconductor Mission 2.0 with a financial outlay of about USD 13 billion in incentives, calling for collaboration to develop the entire semiconductor ecosystem.
Women Entrepreneurship and Startup Ecosystem
The Minister highlighted women's participation in India's startup ecosystem, noting that more than 45% of the 250,000 recognized startups in India have at least one woman partner or director, and that two-thirds of small loans provided in the last decade have been given to women entrepreneurs. He urged the BRICS Women's Business Alliance to ensure women-led enterprises participate in every BRICS exhibition and trade fair.
Strategic Vision and Multilateral Framework
Union Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar highlighted that BRICS has evolved substantially over 20 years of institutionalized cooperation, with India's Chairship focusing on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability. He emphasized supply chain connectivity, trade facilitation, services, agriculture, digital delivery, MSMEs, startups, and women-led enterprises as crucial areas, while stressing the need for greater self-reliance through genuine market practices, dependable logistics, and transparent trade and investment.
Commerce Secretary Shri Rajesh Agrawal emphasized preserving the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core and supporting MSMEs through affordable working capital, with the Jaipur Consensus providing a foundation for exploring a common BRICS mechanism. He called for stronger economic integration under the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy 2030 through cooperation, trust, innovation and shared prosperity.