The first BRICS STI Ministerial Meeting was held in Cape Town last year, in line with the decisions of the eThekwini Declaration and Action Plan adopted at the 5th BRICS Summit in March 2013.

It was agreed at the first meeting that cooperation among BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] members would focus on medicine and biotechnology, the exchange of information on STI policies and programmes, the promotion of innovation and technology transfer, food security and sustainable agriculture, high-technology zones/science parks and incubators, nanotechnology and high-performance computing.

The ministers also decided to establish five thematic working areas, with each BRICS member providing leadership in one of them.

South Africa will take the lead in astronomy, while Brazil will lead in the area of climate change and natural disaster mitigation, Russia in water resources and pollution treatment, India in geospatial technology and its applications, and China in new and renewable energy efficiency.

Available: http://www.sanews.gov.za/world/brics-science-ministers-meet-brazil