Civil BRICS
Work Group "Economy and Trade"
Subject ECONOMY
We plan to hold two panel discussions "Economics in the Finite World" and "Non-Western View of the
World Future", as well as to moderate an open discussion platform "New BRICS Development Bank"
together with a work group on Sustainable Development
Position Paper on the subject ECONOMY
Version 01/04/2015
The five BRICS countries account for 45 percent of the population, 25 percent of the world's GDP, 30
percent of the land area and about a quarter of the world trade. Mutual trade amounts to only 10 per
cent of the total volume of their trade. Along with the growth of industrial production is the growing
share of the BRICS countries in environmental pollution. BRICS is a grouping of emerging countries that
have a increasing influence on global processes. The growth of economic power stimulates the desire
for political coordination and creates the need to form their own and not borrowed picture of the world.
Serious studies of the global future were initiated in 1960-1970 years in Western countries. Prediction of
the future has become a routine activity of many national and international public and private research
organizations. All these works consider only the future with the Western perspective and from the angle
of meeting the needs of the West. It seems that it is time to analyze the future from non-Western
viewpoint. As a starting point we can take the BRICS countries as a base, and then expand the analysis to
other non-Western countries - members of the G20 and G77. Initiating research here in Russia we can
involve non-Western world into the discussion, forecasting and planning their own future, in which the
West and its needs are not the determining factor in the world development, but only one of the
important assumptions.
It is proposed to encourage the leaders of the BRICS countries to more actively work together to reflect
on their own future. Contribute to the development of contacts between scientific institutions, expert
groups, scientists and consultants. Organize a wide exchange of research results in the field of the
future, examine the current economic processes, approaches to national and regional planning and
economic regulation.
While developing the economy and technology it should not be forgotten that the performance of the
technology by itselves does not eliminate the risk of a global ecological catastrophe, but only accelerates
the approaching environmental limits to growth. Land, water and air are aready in the category of nonrenewable resources. Continued exponential growth can lead human civilization to the neighborhood of
absolute limits to growth when the human impact on the environment will lead to irreversible damage
to human civilization itself. Similar scenarios of local ecosystem destruction have occurred in the past
and led to the disappearance of entire nations and civilizations. Search for a feasible global path of
sustainable development in a limited world becomes a central theme of economic policy. This is
particularly true, bearing in mind that the BRICS countries have seized from the West dubious
championship level and rate of environmental pollution.
We invite BRICS countries to discuss the possibility of creating economic levers to control the burden on
the environment and to organize extensive contacts between the member states in this area, to initiate
consultations on the development of industrial, residential and transportation infrastructure in order to
harmonize the economy and environment.
To continue the economic development we need adequate financial resources. Multilateral
development banks (MDBs), including the Bank of BRICS, could play the unique catalytic role in
mobilizing long-term investment financing through syndicated loans and other investments. A serious
imbalance of financial resources and financial flows between countries discourage investment and
economic development. Previous rounds of multilateral efforts were aimed at promoting free trade and
harmonization of tariffs. Now it’s the time to facilitate the free movement of real investments and for
harmonization of conditions of financing between the countries.
While in developed countries the business can receive funds from various sources, including capital
markets, private funding, relatively cheap loans, many emerging economies companies often operate in
a monopoly market thus creating serious obstacles to financing. The domestic commodity markets were
open as a result of previous multilateral agreements, but can we expect to enjoy a free competition, if
the financial situation provides to inequality? As a result, instead of promoting a healthy and free
competition, the business is forced to compete in an environment with very unequal initial conditions.
In this regard, we believe that it is necessary to reduce the differences in financing terms and conditions
between the countries and improve access to capital among BRICS countries and between BRICS and
Western countries.
Questions for discussion:
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Population dynamics
Standards of living
Prospects for International Trade
The Sources of Effective Demand
The Role of International Currencies
Regional Economic Blocs and Cooperation Between Them
Environmental Limits to Growth
Migration of Pollution Sources
Profitability in an Era of Limits to Growth
Predicting Global Environmental Changes
Porfolio of BRICS Bank Projects
The Prospects of Co-Financing
Access to Financial Markets