History of the Establishment of BRICS, an Economic Bloc Challenging Western Domination

JAKARTA – Based on the belief that these four countries will dominate global economy became the forerunner to the establishment of BRICS . Without South Africa, BRIC was originally an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China which was first coined by Goldman Sachs in 2001.

The first four countries mentioned were the founding members of the group, while South Africa only joined in 2010. The Goldman Sachs Economic Research Group in 2001 predicted that the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa would grow in size.

It is now a reality and has the potential to significantly reshape the world order. When South Africa joined in 2010, the group’s name was added with an “S” (short for South Africa) to become BRICS.

The ambition to build greater economic cooperation among non-Western countries within a BRICS-based framework has been around since the early 2000s. The term “BRICS” was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in a 2001 paper titled “Building a Better Global Economy BRICs”.

In his paper, O’Neill argues that the broadening of the growth trajectory of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) will allow these countries to grow as a dominant part of the global economy, thereby increasing the global market impact of BRIC economic growth.

As the BRIC countries grow in political and economic significance, O’Neill suggested in 2001, multilateral forums should aim to reorganize to respond to the growing importance of the BRIC economies.

What O’Neill and his colleagues observe is a significant recalibration of global economic power as non-Western countries, especially China, have expanded their economic footprint significantly since the end of World War II.

But long before 2001, the foreign ministers of the four BRIC member countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) met in New York City in September 2006 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly General Debate, which marked the beginning of a series of high-level meetings.

Then a formal diplomatic meeting was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 16, 2009, which became the forerunner of BRIC because it was the group’s first summit. A year later, South Africa officially joined and marked the change of the group’s name to ‘BRICS’.