Trade Initiatives
Structured programmes of the BRICS Trade Council that connect companies across member nations, dialogue partners and regular members into working commercial relationships.
Each initiative pairs businesses with counterparts in partner markets, supported by the council’s secretariat and its conference calendar.
Council Trade Initiatives
Each initiative is a standing working track of the BRICS Trade Council, open to member companies across BRICS nations, dialogue partners and regular members.
The tracks below run continuously rather than as one-off events. A member company joins the tracks that match its sector and export ambition, and the secretariat handles the introductions, the documentation guidance and the follow-through with counterpart chambers.
Export Facilitation Track
Practical guidance for first-time and scaling exporters: documentation practice, certification expectations, payment routes and the customs realities of shipping between member economies. Built for small and mid-sized manufacturers who have a product ready but no established channel.
Intended outcome: a first confirmed export order into a partner market.
Sector Forums
Standing working groups in the sectors that carry the bulk of intra-BRICS trade: textiles and apparel, technology and digital services, infrastructure and engineering, agriculture and food processing, and energy. Each forum gathers producers, buyers and trade bodies from more than one member nation.
Intended outcome: a shared sector view and a working list of counterpart firms.
Bilateral Matchmaking
Curated introductions between a member company and vetted counterparts in a single target market, arranged around the council’s programs and conferences. The secretariat screens both sides on capacity, compliance readiness and genuine intent before any meeting is scheduled.
Intended outcome: qualified meetings rather than a stack of business cards.
Supply Chain Collaboration
A cross-border track for firms seeking alternative sourcing, contract manufacturing partners or logistics arrangements inside the member and partner bloc. It concentrates on the unglamorous parts: lead times, quality assurance, warehousing and the freight corridors that actually work.
Intended outcome: a second sourcing or distribution route inside the bloc.
Knowledge Exchange
Briefings, member roundtables and written notes covering market entry conditions, regulatory shifts and trade policy developments across member and dialogue partner economies. Delivered alongside the council’s conference calendar so members prepare before they travel.
Intended outcome: a member that walks into a new market already informed.
Delegation Support
Assistance for member companies joining business delegations to partner countries, from the invitation and host-chamber liaison through to the meeting schedule on the ground. Open to member firms travelling individually as well as to groups assembled around a sector forum.
Intended outcome: a visit with counterparts confirmed before departure.
Cross-Border Business Forum
The council’s standing initiative for matching manufacturers, exporters and service firms across member and partner economies.
What The Forum Does
The Cross-Border UDC BRICS Business Forum exists for one reason: a company with a product or a service should be able to reach a counterpart in another BRICS economy without waiting for a state-level agreement to make the introduction. The council convenes the sessions, verifies who is in the room, and keeps the follow-up moving after everyone has flown home.
Sessions rotate between member nations and dialogue partners, pairing sector delegations with local chambers, trade promotion bodies and the diplomatic missions accredited to the host city.
Matched Sector Sessions
Each forum is built around sector tables rather than open networking. Companies register their line of business and the markets they want to enter, and the secretariat seats them with buyers, distributors and joint-venture candidates working in the same segment. Engineering goods, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, logistics and IT services carry the heaviest tables.
Participating Nations
The forum draws from the full BRICS membership alongside the bloc’s dialogue partners, so a single session can put a South Asian component maker in front of a Brazilian assembler and a Gulf logistics operator in the same afternoon.
- Regular members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa
- Expanded membership and dialogue partner delegations, joining as their national chambers nominate participants
- Host-city chambers, trade promotion councils and accredited missions supporting each round
What Member Companies Gain
Member firms are listed in the sector briefing circulated to every delegation before the session, are seated at the tables matching their declared markets, and keep a named point of contact at the secretariat for introductions made after the forum closes. Their trade enquiries are carried forward into the council’s programmes and conference rounds rather than ending with the event.
How Initiatives Create Value
Every initiative of the BRICS Trade Council is measured by what it puts in a member company’s hands: a counterpart, a contract, a route, or a skill.
Uganda Dialogue Partner Country
Introductions to buyers, distributors and chambers with dialogue partner nations, High Commissioner of Uganda in Delhi presented market opportunities with delegates from BRICS countries.
Nepal with BRICS
Sourcing and matchmaking across Nepal, Honorary Consul Mr. Bikram Pandey presented the opportunities to manufacturers to locate product suppliers, partners and joint ventures with various BRICS nations.
Women Session
Briefing the delegates, for product and services to collaborate with best practices in partner countries. Presented by delegates who have completed the transaction rather than only studied it.
Sector Growth
Visibility for member companies within their industry across the bloc, so smaller firms are seen alongside established names when delegations and buyers look for partners.
Ready To Join The Council?
Membership opens the door to every initiative on this page.
Companies admitted to the BRICS Trade Council take part in the matchmaking rounds, sector working groups and delegation visits that carry these initiatives across member nations and dialogue partners. Eligibility is set out in full on the Membership page.
If your business is weighing a first move into a BRICS market, write to the secretariat and we will point you to the initiative that fits your sector.