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SCO and BRICS summits in Ufa

BRICS economies eye broader cooperation during Russia’s presidency — Brazil’s Rousseff

Speaking ahead of her visit to Russia, Rousseff said that cooperation between the BRICS nations already "covers around 30 areas such as agriculture, health care, science, technology and innovation"

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff

© EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

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RIO DE JANEIRO, July 8. /TASS/. The five BRICS emerging economies will expand cooperation between agencies and governments thanks to efforts made during Russia’s presidency of the grouping uniting Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff told TASS.

Speaking ahead of her visit to Russia to attend a summit in the city of Ufa, Rousseff said that cooperation between the BRICS nations already "covers around 30 areas such as agriculture, health care, science, technology and innovation".

"Thanks to efforts made during Russia’s presidency of BRICS, this list will be expanded," she said, adding that the group’s activity "is not limited to initiatives on the intergovernmental level".

"We also support involving civil society through the Academic and Business forums of the group. Thank to such new initiatives as the Youth Forum and the BRICS Civil Forum, we will strengthen our ties which go beyond governments," Rousseff added.

BRICS countries collectively represent about 26% of the world’s geographic area and are home to 42% of the world’s population.

In 2013, BRICS countries' share of global trade stood at 16.1%, 10.8% of military spending and 40.2% in production of non-renewable energy resources. The group's consumer market is the world's largest, growing by $500 billion a year.

The first official summit of the group, founded in June 2006, took place in June 2009 in Russia’s Yekaterinburg. Since then, meetings at the highest level are held annually in member-countries. The last summit took place in Brazil.

Russia took over the presidency of BRICS on April 1.

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