New Delhi, Sept. 11 -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday described BRICS as an important global forum, highlighting the grouping's growing demographic and economic weight and noting that its members account for around half of the world's population and 40 per cent of global GDP.

Speaking to reporters, Ramaphosa said, "BRICS is a very important forum for all of us. It's a very big collection of countries in the world. It represents a huge population. 50 per cent of the world's population lives in BRICS countries. And already now, 40 per cent of GDP is in BRICS, so we are an important forum."

Ramaphosa's remarks came at a time when the expanded BRICS grouping is seeking to deepen economic cooperation among its members amid...