The BRICS summit in Kazan will be attended by representatives of 36 countries and 6 international organisations. This was announced by Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov at a briefing on 21 October.

He said that the meeting of delegations of the BRICS countries will be held on 22 October. It will start with an informal lunch in the Kazan City Hall, and in the morning of 23 October a meeting of the BRICS member states will be held.

"It is planned to consider the most pressing aspects of the global agenda in a narrow group, exchange views on the topics of cooperation of the BRICS states in the international arena <...>.The leaders will discuss the situation that is developing in the context of further financial cooperation within the BRICS, as well as a very important and very sensitive issue, the further expansion of the BRICS members"

Yury Ushakov Russian Presidential Aide

As for the accession of new countries to the group, the Russian Presidential Aide said that a discussion is expected on the issue of formalising the new members of the association as partners.

In addition, a gala reception will be held on behalf of the Russian President on the evening of 23 October. Leaders and heads of delegations of the BRICS countries, as well as representatives of the states participating in the enlarged meeting, have been invited to attend the reception.

The meeting in the BRICS+ format will be held on 24 October. Representatives of Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America will assess the state of cooperation in the field of economy and trade, as well as summarise the results of cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere and touch upon the topics of sustainable development and food security.

Dilma Rousseff, President of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), Sergey Katyrin, Chairman of the Russian part of the BRICS Business Council, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, and others will make a presentation on the same day.

At the end of the enlarged meeting, the BRICS Kazan Declaration will be adopted. This comprehensive document will summarise the results of the Russian presidency in the group. According to Ushakov, the final declaration is currently under preparation.

The BRICS summit starts on Tuesday, 22 October, and will last three days. The meeting of the member countries of the association will be held under the motto "Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security". The second part of the summit, the BRICS+ session, will be devoted to the theme "BRICS and the Global South: Building a Better World Together".

Photo: TV BRICS