The leaders of the group of five BRICS emerging market countries signed on Tuesday a deal to create a new development bank and an emergency reserve fund, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff announced at a summit of the group in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived on Monday to Fortaleza, Brazil for a summit of the BRICS countries. The sixth summit of the BRICS, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will be held in Brazil from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The leaders of the five BRICS nations stopped short of establishing a highly-promoted development bank at this week’s summit in South Africa, instead saying they would enter “formal negotiations” on the issue. But the summit did yield some agreements, including big-money bilateral trade deals.
South Africa has been formally asked to join the BRIC group of major emerging markets, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, according to a statement on the web from China’s Foreign Affairs minister Yang Jiechi.
Brazilian president Lula da Silva confirmed Friday he will not be present at the South Africa World Cup final on Sunday because he has urgent work in the northeast of the country ravaged by floods that has left tens dead and thousands homeless.