New Delhi, Sept. 11 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the economic power of BRICS must be converted into trade, investments and business opportunities, noting that BRICS must take its act from potential as its economic power increases.

Speaking at the Leaders' Session of the BRICS Business Forum here in New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi said that BRICS, which started with four nations back in 2006, has now become a family of 21 members and partners with a population of 50 per cent of the world's population, 40 per cent of global GDP and above 25 per cent of global trade. "Whereas global GDP has doubled, the combined GDP of BRICS has increased four-and-a-half times," Modi said.

According to the Prime Minister, "BRICS Chairmanship of India is aimed at 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability' and we aim to make use of this economic potential to build resilient supply chains, foster technological innovations and offer business opportunities for companies in the BRICS."

"We want to achieve this through our vision of 'Make in India, Innovate with India, and Scale for the World.'

According to the PM, "the startup ecosystem of India with 200,000 startups and over 120 unicorns provides another major avenue for cooperation within BRICS." Indian startups are working on artificial intelligence, healthcare, education, green hydrogen, battery, defence, and space sectors.

On the other side, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his opinion about the global economy facing a time of "structural, deep, profound shifts" where the rising economies are becoming new sources of growth for the global economy, and BRICS is becoming a platform for a new international economic order.

Putin, speaking at the Leaders' Session of the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi, stated that the ongoing changes in the global economy were brought about by the creation of new economic centres of activity, though the traditional economic powerhouses still have significant technological, scientific and infrastructural advantages over the rising economies.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.