NEW-DELHI, March 28 (Itar-Tass) — The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) support the idea of establishing a common bank, Russian Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiulina said after a meeting of BRICS economics and foreign trade ministers on Wednesday.

“The idea of a BRICS bank is shared by all countries in the group. The development of financial infrastructures will faciliate joint investments and mutual trade,” she said. “Now we are to discuss the details of the project. It is very important to ensure the bank’s activity should be in demand. We need a portfolio of joint investment projects for this.”

According to Nabiulina, the ministers discussed the economic situation in each BRICS country. “We also tried to evaluate the state of affairs in the world economy,” she added. Nabiulina also said, “We discussed interaction by our countries in various international formats and the development of joint projects. By today’s session the trade and economic issues contact group had defined the guidelines for interaction. This makes trade and customs procedures easier and develops e-commerce.”

The minister underscored the importance of several initiatives for Russia, including the promotion of foreign economic activity of small and medium-sized companies.

The ministers met on the eve of the fourth BRICS summit.