The fifth BRICS summit has opened in Durban, South Africa.

The 5th BRICS summit opens in Durban (Source: Xinhua/VNA)

This is the first time the meeting has been held on the African continent. South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Chinese president Ji Xinping are attending the event. Themed "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Integration and Industrialization", the summit will review the political and socio-economic situation of the 5 BRICS members and the economic situation in the Eurozone among other issues. The BRICS leaders are expected to endorse an agreement made earlier by their finance ministers to establish a BRICS development bank, which will finance infrastructure development in the five emerging economies. BRICS countries have 42 percent of the world’s population, 25 percent of the world’s GDP, and 15 percent of global trade revenue.