The BRICS have chosen the route towards internationalisation, economic integration and modernisation and support economic entities, intended for strategic interests of the partner countries. In its essence public-private partnership (PPP) is a platform where public and private investors come together to find mutually beneficial resolution of financial and economic problems. It is important to note that PPP does not mean any transfer of assets from public to private institutions, but represents ...

This study selected the representative academic databases from the five BRICS countries as data sources, utilising bibliometric methods to review the scholarly work of BRICS nations on global governance and multilateralism. Specifically, Brazil used the official database CAPES of its Ministry of Education for literature collection. CAPES indexes many academic journal articles published domestically and abroad in Brazil, covering disciplines in science, technology, medicine, humanities and socia...

The war in Ukraine and the multiple challenges ranging from the Covid-19 pandemic to the real and present danger of climate change and the burgeoning debt crisis have once again underscored the urgent need for real reform of the multilateral system. India has been saying so at the UN for thirty years, we have been saying it at G20 over the last decade and we have been talking about it at these BRICS forums each year. Five years ago, at the BRICS leaders retreat in Johannesburg, Prime Minister N...

In 2023, Artificial Intelligence (AI) entered the public discourse becoming a household term. The conversation has ranged from AI making human labour redundant to an AI-based super intelligenceemerging in the near future, triggering an extinction level event across society (Vallance, 2023). The AIheadlines have been especially shocking, with an Open Letter signed by notable Western AI experts calling for a six-month pause on AI development, given its potential exponential increase in capabiliti...

BRICS countries collectively comprise 40 percent of the world’s population (Statista, 2014). However, what truly defines this shared commonality among the nations is the diversity of population, culture and languages within the borders. India has 28 States and 8 Union Territories and according to the latest Census (2011), more than 19,500 mother tongues are spoken in India (Indian Express, 2018). Similarly, Africa is home to about one-third of the world’s languages with about 1,000 to 2,000 lan...

Currently, politicians and experts are increasingly talking about moving towards a polycentric world order. The unipolar world with the hegemony of the United States is becoming a thing of the past. It is unlikely that there will be a new bipolarity in the form of Chimerica. However, it is not yet clear which powers will become key in the new polycentric world. So far, the comparison of twelve countries, namely the G7 and BRICS participants, has become the most popular. Read more

China has the world’s largest vocational education system with 11,200 vocational schools and 29.15 million students, offering more than 1,300 majors which cover almost all areas of the national economy (Workers’ Daily, 19 August 2022). A system of Secondary Vocational High School + Vocational College + Vocational and Technical University was established. The Chinese government stresses the importance of craftsmanship and vocational education and has implemented a series of laws, mechanisms and ...

The 2023 BRICS Academic Forum brought together leading scholars, researchers, and policymakers from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa to discuss pressing global challenges and opportunities for collaboration. In his opening address, on the 14th May 2023, South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, highlighted, “The 15th BRICS Academic Forum provides us with another opportunity to strengthen our relations and reaffirm our values in an eve...

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have displayed a growing interest in Africa in recent years. This interest is driven by the continent’s potential for economic growth and investment prospects. As a result, the BRICS (collectively or individually) have established various forms of partnerships with African countries, aimed at stimulating economic development, trade, and investment in Africa (Prabhakar, Azam, Bakhtyar, & Ibrahim, 2015). Read more

In mid-May 2023 South Africa hosted the BRICS Academic Forum in Cape Town, where discussions focused on the most pressing issues on the BRICS agenda such as the modalities of BRICS-Africa cooperation, including through the advancement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Perhaps the key message that came from the Forum was the call for collective action and cooperation not only among the BRICS economies but also with the wider BRICS+ space of the Global South. In particular, reg...