Understanding and systematically monitoring the dynamics of the relations between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), as well as the international insertion of these countries, is something that should be important not just for the Presidency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil (MRE). Given the links between these markets and the export basket of Rio Grande do Sul, understanding the BRICS should also be a task for the government of the State of Rio Grande do Sul.

The BRIC acronym was originally coined by the Goldman Sachs’s English economist Jim O’Neill in his study Building Better Global Economics, which pointed out the influence of the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China on the future of the global economy as a whole. As the projections on the BRICS were being confirmed, another study from the same financial institution (BRIC’s and Beyond) went on to make economic predictions for a group of eleven countries that became known as the Next Eleven (Bangladesh, South Korea, Egypt, Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey and Vietnam).

Although this economic focus on the BRICS keeps reverberating among international financial market analysts, it is worth mentioning that this is a market approach to this group of countries.

Thus, it is believed that to better understand the role and the influence of the joint action of these countries in the international arena more broadly, it is advisable to analyze this variable geometry group from its members’ own point of view.

In the political and diplomatic field, in spite of their differences and contradictions, the BRICS countries have taken advantage of the international attention to launch projects of political and economic coordination in the international arena, as well as international cooperation programs in areas which are sensitive to these countries: education, economic development, energy, food security, environment, defense, etc.

From an International Political Economy perspective, one can understand the reasons that explain, for example, the role played by South Africa in this bloc of emerging economies. Although lacking the economic weight of the other partners, South Africa’s leadership and influence on the African continent and its regional weight in the various international forums would give the then BRIC legitimacy to its demands and proposals in various issues on the international agenda.

In this sense, the reasons that led the other partners to include the African country in the group during its 3^rd Summit, in 2011, become more evident. The addition of the “S” to the acronym (BRIC “S”) then shows that there is a clear distinction between the connotation given by Jim O’Neil in the early 2000s and the sense that the members themselves give to the BRICS.

Since its first meeting of foreign ministers, in Russia, 2008, six annual Summits of Heads of State have already occurred. In 2014, the BRICS gathered in Fortaleza, Brazil. This year the seventh meeting took place on July 9 in Ufa, Russia.

The important fact about the BRICS concerns the scope of its economic and political insertion in a variety of issues of the international agenda. The geopolitical weight of each country in their respective regional areas of influence around the globe and their joint actions make them a counterpoint to the current international system established after the Second World War — World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations (UN).

Last year, the six countries announced the creation of their own Development Bank with a starting capital of $50 billion, which could reach $100 billion. The BRICS Bank plans to set up credit financing lines for infrastructure projects as well as a fund to help member countries in case of international financial turmoil. Thus, as the BRICS consolidate themselves as a reality in which Brazil is one of the protagonists, it is up to society as a whole, especially the people from Rio Grande do Sul, to understand this whole dynamics.

The striking feature of the BRICS regarding the state of Rio Grande do Sul is the fact that they have relevant domestic markets for the products of the state’s export basket. In this sense, Rio Grande do Sul needs to plan ahead of time the best way to improve the relationship between local companies and these markets. Although a considerable part of the export basket is composed of primary products, cooperative efforts among the BRICS may generate export opportunities for products with higher added value such as footwear, agricultural machinery and tools.

Rio Grande do Sul’s exports accounted for 18.2% (approx. $18.7 billion) of the state’s GDP in 2014. Out of this total, the BRICS partners accounted for 27.23% of the market for the local companies (approx. $5.1 billion). The export average growth rate to these countries in the last 14 years was 20.2%, as shown in the table.

When the share of each country as a market for the state’s exports is analyzed individually, the results are: China (87.52%), Russia (6.94%), India (3.04%) and South Africa (2.5%). According to data from the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, in 2014, about 300 companies based in RS exported to China, 200 to South Africa, 130 to India and 100 to Russia, as shown in the chart.

RAW DATA SOURCE: BRAZIL. Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC). Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex). Exporting companies by countries and subnational units: Rio Grande do Sul 2014. 2015. Available at RAW DATA SOURCE: <http://www.mdic.gov.br//sitio/interna/interna.php?area=5&menu=1444&refr=603>. Retrieved July 15 2015.

Thus, this scenario reinforces the need for the state government to defend the interests of the state entrepreneurs institutionally (from the industry to agribusiness) in Brazil’s commercial relations policy-making. In the case of the BRICS, defending the interests of Rio Grande do Sul demands a strategic and systemic view of the political and economic relations within the bloc and partnerships that these countries have with the rest of the world.