1:04 The term "BRICS" was coined by Jim O'Neill, an economist at Goldman Sachs, in a 2001 research paper titled "Building Better Global Economic BRICs." In the paper, O'Neill identified four emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, and China - as significant players in the global economy due to their large populations, rapid economic growth, and potential to influence global economic trends. Over time, South Africa was included in the grouping, and the acronym was updated to "BRICS" to reflect the five member countries. BRICS subsequently became a formal grouping in 2006, when the first BRICS summit was held in Russia. Since then, BRICS has become a forum for high-level cooperation and dialogue among its member countries on various economic, political, and strategic issues.
