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The world is entering a new stage of the digital revolution, driven by the rapid spread of artificial intelligence. This shift is reshaping economic and social relations faster than most previous technologies, raising a real dilemma: how to capture AI's development potential without losing control over the process it sets in motion. BRICS+ is no exception. The bloc is working through how new technologies can strengthen not just individual economies, but the synergy between them.
Context: A Shared Infrastructure Base, Built Separately
Every major BRICS+ economy has already built substantial digital infrastructure on its own. India runs UPI, China has Alipay and WeChat Pay, and Russia operates its Faster Payments System — instant payment rails are now standard across the bloc rather than a differentiator. Payments are only one layer; the deeper build-out spans data-center capacity, cloud storage, cybersecurity and the providers holding it together, and this is where new challenges concentrate. BRICS+ countries collectively hold 40% of the world's internet users and generate about 30% of global ICT-related goods exports, alongside roughly 11% of the world's digitally deliverable services exports (ORF, 2025).
Key Numbers
- BRICS+ accounts for 40% of global internet users, 30% of ICT goods exports and 11% of digitally deliverable services exports (ORF, 2025)
- China is reportedly weighing an investment of roughly USD 295 billion over five years in a nationwide AI data-center network — still at the planning stage — alongside a separate, previously announced three-year AI and cloud commitment from Alibaba of at least USD 52 billion, which the company was reported in March 2026 to be considering raising toward USD 69 billion
- The average global data breach takes 241 days to identify and contain — 181 days to identify plus 60 days to contain (IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report, 2025)
- A 2024 Zoho-commissioned survey found that among MSMEs planning IT budgets, 77% had allocated up to 50% to cloud solutions, and 23% had allocated more than half
- The BRICS Business Council's AI Alliance Network lists 60 AI training programmes from 14 countries on its website; the Council's Digital Economy and Artificial Intelligence Working Group counts 137 members (BRICS Business Council Annual Report 2025)
Deep Dive: Development Versus Governability
AI adoption is creating a new format of socio-economic relations — new categories of jobs, new competitive dynamics between firms and states, and new questions about who controls the infrastructure underneath it all. Within BRICS+, each member has answered the infrastructure question on its own terms: separate payment rails, separate cloud and data-storage buildouts, and separate approaches to cybersecurity and data governance, including sharply diverging rules on data localization. That pattern built national capacity quickly, but it now raises the practical question of how much these parallel systems can, or should, interoperate.
This sits squarely within the focus of the BRICS Business Council. Its work spans several fronts: Russia's AI Alliance Network coordinates AI training across 14 countries and is developing "AI Horizons," a joint research initiative; a proposed BRICS Ethical Framework for AI would extend Russia's own AI Ethics Code, signed by more than 900 organizations, into a bloc-wide standard; Brazil has proposed a BRICS Digital Lab to connect innovators and researchers; South Africa is building a Cybersecurity Talent Accelerator; and the UAE and South Africa are jointly developing a proposal for a cross-border digital trading and logistics platform. These remain early-stage initiatives — several are still at the proposal or discussion phase — but they mark a deliberate attempt to convert separately built national strength into shared frameworks.
What This Means for Business
For infrastructure and cybersecurity providers: rising data volumes and diverging national rules point to sustained demand for compliance, storage and security services tailored to individual BRICS+ markets.
For AI firms: the AI Alliance Network and the proposed ethical AI standard signal where BRICS+ institutions want common ground to form first.
For policymakers: reconciling data-governance approaches, rather than further national buildout, is the more direct route to collective economic synergy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How large is BRICS+ digital footprint globally?
BRICS+ countries hold 40% of the world's internet users, generate about 30% of global ICT goods exports, and account for roughly 11% of digitally deliverable services exports (ORF, 2025).
Do BRICS+ countries already have strong digital payment systems?
Yes. India runs UPI, China has Alipay and WeChat Pay, and Russia operates its Faster Payments System — each built independently, illustrating a parallel rather than shared approach to digital infrastructure.
How much is being invested in AI infrastructure across BRICS+?
China is reportedly weighing about USD 295 billion in state investment over five years for a nationwide AI data-center network, though the plan is still at an early, unconfirmed stage. Separately, Alibaba's own three-year AI and cloud commitment — originally at least USD 52 billion — was reported in March 2026 to be under consideration for an increase toward USD 69 billion.
What is the BRICS Business Council doing on digital cooperation?
It has launched an AI Alliance Network offering 60 training programmes across 14 countries, proposed a shared Ethical Framework for AI built on Russia's AI Ethics Code (signed by 900+ organizations), and is developing a Digital Lab, a cybersecurity accelerator, and a cross-border digital trading and logistics platform — most of which remain early-stage proposals.
Related Content
For the broader picture of India's chairship, see our pillar brief on BRICS 2026 India: Economic Power & the 18th Summit. For the data-governance landscape in services trade, see BRICS Services Trade 2026: Untapped Growth Potential. Event details and the full agenda are on our BRICS Business Forum India 2026 page.
Economic cooperation in BRICS+ services is drawing growing attention as global services trade hits record scale, while trade between BRICS members in finance, healthcare, education, tourism, logistics and professional services remains thin relative to individual members' weight in the sector.
Context: Strong Individually, Thin Between Members
World services exports surpassed USD 9.5 trillion in 2025, an 8% annual increase, pushing services to 27.5% of global trade — the highest share since 2005 (UNCTAD, WTO). Digitally deliverable services, which move over computer networks without ports or customs, reached roughly USD 5.4 trillion, growing around 10% — outpacing both overall services and goods trade.
Individual BRICS+ members are genuine heavyweights in this market. China ranked the world's fourth-largest services exporter in 2025 at USD 511 billion. India's software and IT exports reached USD 204.7 billion in FY25, making it the dominant force in global IT outsourcing. Yet India's total services exports to BRICS partners were estimated at just USD 31.3 billion in 2024, with the US and Europe absorbing most of that trade instead.
Key Numbers
- World services exports reached USD 9.5 trillion in 2025, with services now 27.5% of global trade
- Digitally deliverable services reached roughly USD 5.4 trillion in 2025, growing around 10%, outpacing overall services and goods trade
- China ranked the world's fourth-largest services exporter in 2025, at USD 511 billion
- India's software and IT exports reached USD 204.7 billion in FY25 (RBI)
- India's services exports to BRICS partners totaled only about USD 31.3 billion in 2024
- Only Russia and China enforce hard data-localization among BRICS+ members; India's 2025 rules use a lighter, permissive approach not yet fully in force
Deep Dive: The Same Gap, in a Sector Built for Cross-Border Trade
Services trade should, in theory, be easier to internationalize than goods — much of it moves digitally, without ports, customs or shipping lanes. Yet the BRICS+ pattern echoes what shows up in merchandise trade: individual members are heavyweights in aggregate services exports, but comparatively little of that trade flows between them. Most of India's software exports, and a large share of China's services trade, still run to the US and Europe.
Part of the barrier is regulatory divergence in financial services and healthcare, limited mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and restrictions on skilled-worker mobility. A further fault line runs through data governance. Russia has required domestic storage of citizens' personal data since 2015, and China's Personal Information Protection Law imposes similar hard localization unless regulators approve exceptions. India's approach differs: its 2025 rules permit cross-border transfers by default except to countries the government explicitly restricts, with those provisions not taking full effect until May 2027. Brazil's LGPD requires approved contractual safeguards for international transfers. This patchwork is itself a trade barrier: a fintech or cloud platform compliant in one BRICS+ market can face a very different compliance burden in the next.
What This Means for Business
For services exporters: IT, healthcare, education and financial-services firms built for global delivery have room to diversify into BRICS+ markets that remain underpenetrated, though local data-governance rules should be budgeted into market-entry plans.
For investors: cross-border fintech, healthtech and edtech platforms stand to benefit from any move toward mutual recognition of standards, qualifications and data-transfer frameworks.
For policymakers: skilled-worker mobility frameworks and interoperable data-governance rules are a more direct lever for services integration than growth in aggregate export volumes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How large is global services trade in 2025?
World services exports reached USD 9.5 trillion in 2025, an 8% increase, with services accounting for 27.5% of global trade — the highest share since 2005.
How strong are BRICS+ members individually in services exports?
China ranked the world's fourth-largest services exporter in 2025 at USD 511 billion, while India's software and IT exports reached USD 204.7 billion in FY25, the largest in global IT outsourcing.
How much of India's services trade goes to BRICS partners?
India's software and IT exports reached USD 204.7 billion in FY25, but only about USD 31.3 billion of its total services exports went to BRICS partners in 2024.
Do BRICS+ members share the same approach to data governance?
No. Russia and China enforce hard data-localization, while India's 2025 rules use a lighter, permissive model not yet fully in force, and Brazil's LGPD relies on approved contractual safeguards for transfers abroad.
Related Content
For the broader picture of India's chairship, see our pillar brief on BRICS 2026 India: Economic Power & the 18th Summit. For trade barriers in goods, see Intra-BRICS Trade: Barriers & Integration Challenges. Event details and the full agenda are on our BRICS Business Forum India 2026 page.
Economic development in BRICS+ agriculture centers on a structural advantage few blocs can match: the bloc holds raw material supply, fertilizer production, and consumer demand within its own borders, while the missing link remains technology to raise efficiency.
Context: A Rare Structural Completeness
BRICS+ generated around 20% of global agricultural export value in 2021 (UN Comtrade), with dominant positions in oilseeds (about 40%), cotton (about 45%) and grain (about 28% of export value, on par with the G7's 34%). Brazil supplied 73.6% of China's soybean imports in 2025, as China imported a record 111.8 million metric tons. Brazil's agribusiness sector exported USD 164.4 billion in 2024, the second-highest total on record, with China as its largest single market.
Beyond raw commodities, the bloc controls a critical input: fertilizer. Russia is the world's largest fertilizer exporter, holding around 20% of the global market and targeting 25% by 2030. Nearly half of global fertilizer consumption occurs within BRICS, chiefly China and India. Brazil imports about 70% of its fertilizer needs, with Russia supplying close to a third of that volume — a supply-demand match built entirely inside the group.
Key Numbers
- BRICS+ generated around 20% of world agricultural export value in 2021 (UN Comtrade)
- BRICS+ share of global cotton exports reached about 45%, and oilseeds around 40%
- Brazil supplied 73.6% of China's soybean imports in 2025; its agribusiness sector exported USD 164.4 billion that year
- Russia holds roughly 20% of global fertilizer exports and aims for 25% by 2030
- Nearly half of world fertilizer consumption happens inside BRICS, led by China and India
- India counts 5,115 agritech startups, the second-highest number of any country after the US (7,579)
- The global agritech market is projected to grow from USD 38.6 billion in 2026 to USD 58.8 billion by 2030
Deep Dive: Complementarity Without a Technology Bridge
Few economic blocs combine raw material scale, input production and end-market demand as directly as BRICS+. Brazil, India and Russia supply grain, oilseed and cotton at scale; Russia and China anchor fertilizer supply and consumption; China's soybean demand alone absorbs nearly three-quarters of Brazil's exports. On paper, the pieces for a self-sufficient, resilient agricultural system are already in place.
What is missing is the technology layer that converts raw complementarity into productivity gains. In India, post-harvest losses for some crops exceed 40%, and only about 4% of food moves through a cold chain, versus 70% in the UK — a gap that costs more than any tariff. The response is already visible: India has built the world's second-largest agritech startup ecosystem by count, showing that governments and entrepreneurs recognize the shortfall. But startup formation alone has not closed the funding gap with leaders like the US and China, and joint research between BRICS+ members has not kept pace with the depth of their trade ties.
Closing that gap through joint R&D, technology exchange and cross-border agri-tech investment is emerging as a more consequential lever for food security than further growth in raw commodity volumes.
What This Means for Business
For agribusiness exporters: intra-bloc complementarity — Brazilian soy, Russian fertilizer, Chinese and Indian demand — supports continued investment in processing, logistics and storage infrastructure along these corridors.
For agritech investors: India's large and growing startup base, combined with unresolved cold-chain gaps, points to a market actively building solutions but still short on capital relative to its scale.
For policymakers: joint technology development, rather than expanding raw trade volumes, is the more direct route to raising agricultural productivity across the bloc.
Frequently Asked Questions
What share of global agricultural trade does BRICS+ hold?
BRICS+ generated around 20% of world agricultural export value in 2021, per UN Comtrade data analyzed by the Leibniz Institute (IAMO).
How dependent is China on Brazilian soybeans?
Brazil supplied 73.6% of China's soybean imports in 2025, as China's total imports hit a record 111.8 million metric tons.
How does BRICS+ fertilizer supply support the bloc's agriculture?
Russia holds about 20% of global fertilizer exports and supplies close to a third of Brazil's fertilizer imports, while China and India account for much of the bloc's fertilizer consumption.
Is BRICS+ closing its agri-tech gap?
India has built the world's second-largest agritech startup ecosystem, with 5,115 startups, though funding still trails the US and China. Post-harvest losses in India remain above 40% for some crops.
Related Content
For the broader picture of India's chairship, see our pillar brief on BRICS 2026 India: Economic Power & the 18th Summit. For trade barriers across the bloc, see Intra-BRICS Trade: Barriers & Integration Challenges.
Event details and the full agenda are on our BRICS Business Forum India 2026 page.
Non-tariff barriers — lack of mutual recognition of standards, customs procedures, conformity assessment, regulatory divergence, and logistics gaps — are the central constraint on intra-BRICS trade in 2026. They are the anchor talking point at the BRICS Business Forum 2026, where Panel 1 is dedicated to reducing NTBs and building resilient supply chains.
Context: Two Decades of Rapid Growth
Intra-BRICS merchandise trade has expanded more than thirteen-fold since 2003, from USD 84 billion to USD 1.17 trillion in 2024, growing at an annual average rate of 13.3% — far outpacing global trade at 5.7% over the same period. Total intra-bloc turnover exceeded USD 1 trillion in 2025. This followed two rounds of enlargement: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined in January 2024, and Indonesia followed in January 2025 — bringing the bloc to 11 full members plus 10 partner countries as of 2026.
Key Numbers
- Intra-BRICS exports reached USD 1.17 trillion in 2024 (UNCTAD)
- Total intra-bloc turnover exceeded USD 1 trillion in 2025
- BRICS+ generates 24% of global exports and 27% of global GDP, yet intra-bloc trade is only about 5% of world trade
- The India-China corridor hit a record USD 155.6 billion in 2025, with India's trade deficit with China widening to a record USD 116 billion
- Average bilateral BRICS tariffs fell from the 10-20% range in 2003 to single digits by 2021
- Several smaller members now send over 30% of their total exports to fellow BRICS states, per UNCTAD
Deep Dive: Why Non-Tariff Barriers Matter More Than Tariffs
The economic case for tariff-based liberalisation is largely exhausted. Bilateral tariffs among BRICS members have already declined into single digits, offering only marginal gains from further cuts. The binding constraint has shifted to non-tariff barriers: lack of mutual recognition of standards, incompatible conformity assessment procedures, disparate customs regulations, and slow logistics infrastructure.
India maintains one of the largest inventories of non-tariff measures among BRICS members, alongside China, Brazil and South Africa. Each NTB adds transaction costs, forces duplicate compliance work, and disproportionately burdens SMEs — helping explain why intra-BRICS trade's 5% share of world trade lags so far behind the bloc's 24% share of global exports and 27% share of global GDP.
For context, intra-EU trade runs close to 20% of world trade, though the EU operates as a customs union with a single market — a depth of integration BRICS+ has not pursued. The comparison illustrates untapped potential rather than a benchmark BRICS+ has failed to hit.
This is why the Forum's Panel 1 on "Strengthening Trade" focuses on mutual recognition of standards, streamlined customs procedures, resilient supply chains, and industrial complementarities between members.
What This Means for Business
For exporters: the most productive area for capacity-building in 2026-2027 is compliance infrastructure. Early expertise in navigating BRICS-wide standards and certifications should translate into disproportionate market share as harmonisation progresses.
For investors: infrastructure and logistics deals are likely to feature prominently in Forum announcements, with cross-border payment systems and digital trade platforms attracting policy support.
For event participants: Forum discussions typically feed into the BRICS Leaders' Summit declaration, held this year on September 12-13.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is intra-BRICS trade in 2026?
Trade between BRICS member states reached USD 1 trillion in turnover in 2025 and USD 1.17 trillion in exports in 2024.
Which BRICS members trade the most between themselves?
The India-China corridor is the largest bilateral relationship within BRICS, at USD 155.6 billion in 2025. Several smaller members depend on intra-bloc trade for over 30% of their exports, per UNCTAD.
What are the main non-tariff barriers in BRICS?
Lack of mutual recognition of standards, incompatible conformity assessment, disparate customs regulations, and logistics gaps — these now cost more than tariffs, which have fallen to single digits.
Why does intra-BRICS trade only account for 5% of world trade?
Because the bloc's external economic weight — 24% of global exports and 27% of global GDP — is not matched by trade integration between its own members, largely due to regulatory divergence and logistics gaps.
What can businesses do to benefit from BRICS trade growth?
Invest in compliance capabilities across BRICS regulatory systems, build relationships at Business Forum side events, and monitor policy announcements on standards recognition.
Related Content
For the broader picture of India's chairship, see our pillar brief on BRICS 2026 India: Economic Power & the 18th Summit. Event details and the full agenda are on our BRICS Business Forum India 2026 page (Panel 1: September 11, 10:30-11:15 am, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi). Follow this bloc's cross-border development on our BRICS alliance hub.
Vietnam is the world's largest exporter of wooden furniture, backed by ASEAN Free Trade Area, CPTPP, and EVFTA membership that gives its exporters preferential access to major markets.
Key figures on Vietnam's furniture industry:
USD 17.2 billion in wood and wood-product exports in 2025, up 6% year-on-year
United States absorbed 55% of exports, worth USD 9.46 billion
Furniture market projected to grow from USD 10.47 billion in 2026 to USD 14.87 billion by 2031
USD 7.97 billion in new FDI for wood processing in first 10 months of 2025
Over 500,000 workers across more than 5,000 manufacturing facilities
Southern Vietnam holds 51.76% of the national furniture market
Growth concentrates in wooden living-room, bedroom, and outdoor furniture, with foreign investment shifting capacity toward Vietnam from regional competitors.
For exporters and investors, the data points to a supply base still absorbing capacity, with room to secure production slots and diversify sourcing.
India chairs BRICS in 2026 for the fourth time, hosting the 18th Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on September 12–13 under the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."
Key statistics on BRICS 2026:
- ~40% of global GDP (PPP)
- 45% of world population
- 23% of world trade and 24% of global FDI inflows
- 43% of global oil production
- 10 member nations plus partner-country participation
Ahead of the Summit, the BRICS Business Forum — organised by FICCI under the BRICS Business Council India Chapter — convenes on September 11 in New Delhi. Focus areas: cross-border payment rails, MSME market access, digital public infrastructure, and green transition finance.
Intra-BRICS trade approached USD 1 trillion in 2024, and India's chairship prioritises turning consultation into measurable integration mechanisms across trade, payments, and industry.