BRICS trade meet clears MSME credit framework

New Delhi: Brics trade ministers on Friday finalised the strategy for the bloc's Economic Partnership 2030 and adopted a joint declaration along with four key annexes to deepen economic ties in Jaipur ahead of the 18th Brics Summit in New Delhi next month.

The members agreed on the Jaipur Consensus and Guiding Principles for MSME credit to close the trade finance gap and expand small businesses' access to global markets.

The joint declaration also reaffirmed support for a rules-based multilateral trading system led by the World Trade Organisation with focus on development, restoration of fully functional and binding two-tier dispute settlement mechanism, and preservation of special and differential treatment alongside policy space for developing economies to ensure food and livelihood security. These are part of Annexe-I.


"Ministers issued the Jaipur Consensus to study a Brics Invoice Discounting Mechanism and adopted the guiding principles for credit assessment frameworks for export-oriented MSMEs, so that a firm is judged by its cash flow and not by its assets and collateral," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.

These instruments respond directly to the global trade finance gap of about $2.5 trillion which impacts smaller enterprises and, therefore, form part of the workplan on the internationalisation of MSMEs adopted as Annexe-II.

The 16th Brics Trade Ministers' Meeting also advanced the opening of markets and economic diversification among members.

The workplan on shared understanding on global value chains (GVCs) under Annexe-III carries the GVC Action Plan 2026-2030, including Brics Technical Council, Brics Connect, Brics GVC Joint Study, the possibility of establishing strategic supply chain and investment promotion platforms for the pharmaceutical industry and food security, among others.

The Brics Principles to Facilitate Digitally Delivered Services Across Borders, adopted as the Annexe-IV, will help cooperation in safe and secure digitally delivered services.