The 5th BRICS Academic Forum, comprising experts and scholars from the research and academic institutions of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, met on the 11th and 12th of March 2013 in Durban. Given that the BRICS have covered significant ground since the inception of the partnership five years’ ago, the Forum believes that they must build upon the progress made in the first five-year cycle of BRICS by consolidating the agreements reached and the achievements registered and by making further concrete proposals for realising the unfolding objectives of the BRICS partnership.
The theme for this year’s Forum, “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation”, represents the common aspirations of BRICS for cementing partnerships with one another and with emerging markets and developing countries including the African continent in order to strengthen progressive development trajectories, promote integration, and expedite industrialisation in developing countries.
