16th BRICS Trade Ministers' Meeting Concludes in Jaipur
India successfully concluded the 16th BRICS Trade Ministers' Meeting on August 7, 2026, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, under its BRICS Chairship 2026. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal, with attendance from Union Minister of State Shri Jitin Prasada and Commerce Secretary Shri Rajesh Agrawal. The meeting brought together trade ministers, vice ministers, and heads of delegation from BRICS member countries including Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.
Key Outcomes and Agreements
The meeting resulted in a Chair's Statement and Outcome Document comprising four annexes. India pushed for safeguarding the interests of Indian farmers and securing food and livelihood security, while preserving Special and Differential Treatment for developing countries in the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core. Ministers affirmed the need for a reformed, development-oriented, member-driven and consensus-based multilateral trading system, and called for restoration of a fully functioning, two-tier and binding dispute settlement system.
MSME Focus and Trade Finance Initiatives
A significant outcome was the Jaipur Consensus to study a BRICS Invoice Discounting Mechanism and the adoption of Guiding Principles for Credit Assessment Frameworks for Export-Oriented MSMEs. These instruments directly address the global trade finance gap of approximately $2.5 trillion that particularly impacts smaller enterprises. These form part of the Workplan on the Internationalisation of MSMEs adopted as Annex-II.
Global Value Chains and Digital Services
Ministers advanced the Workplan on the BRICS Shared Understanding on Global Value Chains (Annex-III), which carries the GVC Action Plan 2026-2030. This includes establishing a BRICS Technical Council, BRICS Connect platform, BRICS GVC Joint Study, and the possibility of establishing strategic supply chain and investment promotion platforms in pharmaceutical and food security sectors. The BRICS Principles to Facilitate Digitally Delivered Services Across Borders (Annex-IV) were adopted to promote cooperation in safe and secure digitally delivered services.
Economic Partnership Strategy 2030
Substantial progress was made toward finalizing the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2030, spanning multiple areas including the multilateral trading system, trade in services, digital economy, industry, innovation and technology, trade and investment, financial cooperation, and sustainable development. Ministers agreed to submit the Strategy together with priorities to BRICS Leaders for endorsement.
The meeting reaffirmed India's commitment to an open, inclusive, transparent, equitable and rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, contributing to India's vision of Viksit Bharat@2047 and shared prosperity among emerging economies.