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Lula Opens Rio BRICS Forum, Renews Push for Common Currency and AI Governance

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Updated Jul 5, 2025, 03:19 PM

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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the BRICS Business Forum in Rio de Janeiro on 5 July, declaring that the bloc can “lead a new model of development” and urging governments to “open doors” while business drives growth. Lula renewed his call for a common BRICS trade currency to cut transaction costs and again pressed for global, multilateral rules on artificial intelligence. He said Brazil’s trade with fellow BRICS members reached US$210 billion last year—more than double the country’s commerce with the European Union—and warned that rising protectionism threatens economic stability.

At the Novo Banco de Desenvolvimento’s annual meeting, the bank’s president, former Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff, said tariffs, sanctions and financial restrictions are being wielded as “tools of political subordination.” Rousseff noted that the Shanghai-based lender has approved roughly US$40 billion for 120 infrastructure and sustainability projects and is encouraging the use of local currencies in its financing operations.

Heads of state and ministers from the bloc’s 11 full members—together accounting for about 40% of global GDP and nearly half of the world’s population—are arriving for the 17th BRICS Summit on 6–7 July. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa landed in Rio on Saturday. China will be represented by Premier Li Qiang in place of President Xi Jinping, while Russia’s Vladimir Putin is expected to join the discussions by videoconference amid an International Criminal Court warrant that limits his travel.

Following the summit, Modi will travel to Brasília for a state visit during which he and Lula are slated to sign four memorandums of understanding covering trade and investment. Brazil, which holds the rotating BRICS presidency this year, has set priorities that include overhauling global financial governance, coordinating climate finance and developing common standards for artificial intelligence.

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Lula said during the opening of the BRICS Business Forum that the link between peace and development is evident, and that there will be no prosperity in a conflicted world. #NoArNaCBN