Piyush Goyal Urges BRICS to Deepen, Balance and Make Trade More Resilient

# What happened

At the BRICS Business Forum opening session in New Delhi, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal laid out a practical agenda to deepen intra-BRICS trade. He focused on three linked goals: expand market access, reduce trade frictions, and make supply chains more resilient by diversifying and enabling two-way flows.

# Why it matters

BRICS account for nearly one-quarter of global trade. Goyal argued that making trade among member and partner countries simpler and more reciprocal can unlock sizable economic cooperation without relying on outside systems. He framed trade policy as a tool to support growth, jobs and supply-chain stability across the grouping.

# Concrete proposals Goyal advanced

• Open markets to each other's goods, including raw materials and critical minerals.
• Simplify regulatory procedures to speed customs clearances and lower export costs. The brief cites an empirical point: for 88% of countries, non-tariff measures raise export costs more than tariffs themselves.
• Link payment systems and increase trade in local currencies. India presented its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as an operational model — noted as processing over 250 billion transactions annually and accepted in 11 countries.
• Promote cross-border digital trade and cooperation on emerging technologies.
• Encourage sectoral cooperation in agriculture (including agri‑tech startups), pharmaceuticals (India's role as a global supplier), engineering goods and electronics, automobiles and auto components, services, startups and other technology areas.
• Facilitate movement of professionals and mutual recognition of qualifications to open services markets in practice.

# Inclusion and startups

Goyal highlighted the role of women and small entrepreneurs in India's startup ecosystem: more than 45% of the 250,000 recognised startups have at least one woman partner or director. He also said two-thirds of small loans in the last decade went to women entrepreneurs, and urged BRICS women's business networks to ensure women-led enterprises participate in exhibitions and trade fairs.

# Other remarks at the session

Union Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar spoke to complementary priorities: supply chain connectivity, trade facilitation and innovation. Russian Minister Maxim Reshetnikov and other officials addressed the session as well, reflecting a shared focus on making trade flows smoother and more predictable across BRICS.

# Practical implications for businesses and policymakers

• Policymakers: consider mutual recognition agreements, streamlined customs procedures, and technical work on linking payment systems and local-currency settlement frameworks.

# Bottom line

The session advanced a pragmatic agenda: lower frictions, improve payments connectivity, and build two-way, diversified supply chains across BRICS. The proposals combine immediate operational steps (simpler clearances, payment links) with sectoral cooperation that could generate trade opportunities if governments follow through.