Russia's Putin praises economic growth of BRICS countries, says they are exceeding G7

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the joint GDP of BRICS countries, at a plenary session of the bloc's business forum in Moscow Friday.

Putin noted that the total GDP of the members of the BRICS association is more than 60 trillion dollars and that its total share in the world gross product "confidently exceeds" the corresponding indicators of the G7 group.

The alliance, with a stated aim of counterbalancing the Western-led world order, initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but started to rapidly expand this year. Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined in January; Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia formally applied, and a number of others expressed desire to join.

"According to the results of the current year, the average rate of economic growth in BRICS is projected at 4%. This is higher than the rates in the seven countries - there it is only 1.7%, and than the global rates - the global rates will be 3.2%," Putin said.

The Russian leader also toured an exhibition of the Russian Direct Investment Fund dedicated to cooperation with the BRICS countries at the Forum.

In the next few days, Putin will be shaking hands with two dozen world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian at the BRICS summit in Kazan.

Officials in Moscow are already touting the gathering in Kazan as a massive success.

Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said two weeks ago that 32 countries confirmed participation, and 24 of them will send heads of state.

Putin will hold around 20 bilateral meetings in Kazan, Ushakov said, and the summit may turn into “the largest foreign policy event ever held” on Russian soil.