MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/ More than 10 chiefs of research institutions uniting experts from the BRICS countries are taking part in the first BRICS Think Tanks Summit, which opened in Moscow, TASS correspondent reports.
The UAE-based information and analytical center TRENDS Research and Advisory is the main organizer. Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ali, its Director-General, is participating in the conference, which has brought together research centers from Russia, Brazil, Egypt, China, Iran, India, Ethiopia and South Africa, as well as media outlets.
The organizers say that in a multipolar world think tanks are growing in importance as "a major driver of intellectual development and policy making."
"The BRICS countries are asserting themselves as an important economic and political force in the international arena. The purpose of this conference is to enhance the role of think tanks in these countries in supporting government policies and developing innovative strategies to achieve sustainable development and expand international cooperation to achieve the desired goals of the BRICS alliance," the conference’s founders said.
Key objectives
The director-general of TRENDS Research and Advisory said in his opening remarks that the conference would discuss, among other things, the BRICS summit in Kazan and its impact on political developments, taking into account the accession of new states to the alliance.
"The BRICS countries aim to develop relations and cooperation. We wish to use this opportunity to share our solutions and ideas in order to see that long-term, permanent cooperation and mutual understanding has come to the home that the BRICS countries are building together," Mohammed Abdullah Al Ali said.
"We proceed from the assumption that think tanks can and should play an enabling role in the activities of the BRICS countries. We should all work to ensure that think tanks that study issues and challenges facing the BRICS countries make a tangible contribution," he added.
Cooperation mechanisms
According to the organizers, the first annual conference of BRICS think tanks is designed to highlight the importance of cooperation among the research institutions of the BRICS countries in predicting the future and shaping economic and social policies, to build bridges of cooperation linking these countries, and to enhance their role in the multipolar international system.
The participating analysts plan to discuss mechanisms for enhancing academic and intellectual cooperation among the BRICS countries. Particular attention will be paid to the role of the media in disseminating the researchers’ findings and expanding the scope of the dialogue on common issues within the BRICS group. The participants will also exchange opinion on how think tanks might contribute to economic growth strategies and trading cooperation among the BRICS countries.