BRICS Summit: India Should Convert Global South Ties Into Trade, Investment Growth, Says FIEO

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) on Wednesday said the upcoming 18th BRICS Summit here offers India a major opportunity to convert its growing strategic engagement with the Global South into gains in exports, investment, technology and resilient supply chains. FIEO urged that the summit that runs from September 12-13 must focus on a few practical deliverables for businesses: faster customs procedures, reduction of non-tariff barriers, greater regulatory transparency, mutual recognition of standards and conformity assessment, improved logistics connectivity, digital trade documentation and easier cross-border payments.

"BRICS should move beyond strategic dialogue to measurable commercial outcomes. For Indian businesses, its real value will lie in easier market access, stronger supply-chain partnerships, investment flows, technology, collaboration and efficient payment mechanisms,” S C Ralhan, President, FIEO, said. Closer BRICS cooperation can improve India’s access to critical minerals, energy, technology, capital and new manufacturing partnerships, the FIEO President said.

Ralhan said India has considerable opportunities in engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles and apparel, automobiles and auto components, electronics, food and agricultural products, renewable energy, healthcare and digital services. The expanded BRICS grouping spanning major economies across Asia, Africa, the Gulf, Latin America and Eurasia, offers Indian exporters a significantly wider economic footprint.

BRICS economies together account for around 26 per cent of global trade, providing India an important platform to diversify exports beyond its traditional markets. “The opportunity is not simply to sell more to BRICS countries. India should become an integral part of the production, sourcing and value chains being developed across these economies,” he said. Ralhan highlighted the importance of developing commercially viable mechanisms for greater settlement of intra-BRICS trade in local currencies.

“Payment uncertainty can itself become a trade barrier. Efficient, transparent and compliant payment arrangements can reduce transaction costs and give businesses, particularly MSMEs, greater confidence to enter new markets,” he said. FIEO also called for a much stronger business-to-business architecture within BRICS, including sector-specific buyer-seller meetings, investment matchmaking, technology partnerships, joint ventures and regular business delegations.

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