Caio Henrique Dias Duarte, Researcher at the Law School of the University of São Paulo; Director of the University of São Paulo's Network for Diplomacy and National Defense Studies – special for InfoBRICS

The Brazilian Pro Tempore Presidency of the BRICS in 2019 will have as theme economic growth for an innovative future. Being the destination of 30.7 percent of Brazil's exports in 2018, the other BRICS countries accounted for 52 percent of the Brazilian trade surplus in that year alone, rendering the economic relevance that orients Brazil's goals in this mandate most clear.

Choosing economic growth as a motto and associating it with innovation for the future expresses an internal need of fighting economic stagnation in the national economy. With recent failures such as the attempted free-trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union still lurking in the memory, Brazil is looking to deepen and modernize trade with relevant partners, and this is where the focus in the BRICS comes in: strong and dynamic economies integrated with their respective regional markets.

An innovative future is then in that sense a more digital global economy, with faster and innovative changes that allow it to grow without bureaucratic or even political limitations. It is interesting, then, that we analyse each of the priority points in this mandate:

- Strengthening of the cooperation in science, technology and innovation;

Political differences between the BRICS members come as no surprise, and this is probably one of the reasons that Brazil is adopting the same strategy that the EU and Russia adopted after Crimea in 2014: focusing in science as a way to maintain and enhance cooperation. The reason for this is that although political agendas might not match, scientific feats are welcomed by all sides of the political spectrum and seldomly seem as ideological.

In this sense, technological exchange and the promotion of innovation in the economies of the BRICS can abound, from medical innovations to space technology, there is massive room for cooperation between academias and top-notch industrial segments. One can expect a collective effort for a policy of increases in funding for joint-research in such fields, as in many others that can benefit from the advancements in science and technology.

Focusing in the economic integration and strengthening of the group, the goal of this point will be to foster economic development in a concrete fashion, but it is relevant to state that innovation also means legal cooperation to advance the speed of registering patents, and exchanging technologies with the protection of intellectual property.

- Invigoration of the cooperation on the fight against transnational crime, especially against organized crime, money laundering and drug trafficking;

A main concern for Brazil is transnational crime, ranging from international drug trafficking that increases violence in the cities to money laundering in corruption schemes such as the Odebrecht investigations, currently happening in several countries of Latin America after starting in Brazil. In that sense, curbing those networks is then a priority that is considered both feasible and of relevance to the other BRICS members not only over the aforementioned reasons but also over international terrorism, cybersecurity and border security. Innovation, specially in technology, will be a crucial factor in this point of the agenda.

In the discussion between the BRICS' National Security Authorities this would mean several steps that transcend the signature of treaties, such as the integration of police and intelligence forces in a more fluid way, so as to assure that the flow of capital between the BRICS is not fuelling any illegalities. Although BRICS countries are all members of the Interpol, this point of the Brazilian presidency could mean a new vision in the fight against transnational crime.

Similar movements, such as the Tallinn Manual, a document that seeks to define cybersecurity threats, already sprung in organizations of a military character, such as NATO, but a joint effort against crime coming from a non-military group as the BRICS could redefine discussions in that sense, bringing dissonant perspectives that allow for more representative and efficient forms of action against crime. A relevant aspect of this point would be its relation with the goals of the presidency in increasing innovation, meaning a new use of the ethernet to fight corruption, dissemination of extremist activity and the money flow of transnational crime, which in turn would allow for new technologies to be funded for that matter.

- Enhancement of the cooperation on digital economy;

Digital economy is present in the priority points for the same reason that scientific cooperation is. Understanding the new forms of economic exchange and adapting the BRICS' economies to integrate with them with speed but also safety is a primal concern in a presidency that seeks economic growth in the future.

In this sense, we can expect a special interest of working groups or even the creation of new ones in the field of digital economic innovation: from legal regulation to creating new mechanism for the currency flows of the market, it is possible to integrate the member countries through the usage new tools that have necessarily to be developed collectively.

This will ensure that an agenda that favour development can adapt to the specific realities of the member countries, tending to their limitations but also to their potentialities in a global market in a moment of change and transition towards technological integration.

- Encouragement to the rapprochement between the New Development Bank (NDB) and the BRICS Business Council.

Since the creation of the BRICS Business Council in 2013 and the New Development Bank in 2014 it became clear that one of the most fruitful ways of cooperation amongst the BRICS was the economical path and the projection of a vision of economic development that bore resemblances between the member-countries, that is to say, local and regional development instead of just aggregated value in production. The creation of a working group for digital economy in the Business Council last year is a sign that this idea is advancing.

By doing this, the Brazilian presidency hopes to achieve a bond that will allow for the growth of the NDB in accordance to the needs of the business sectors of each member country, allowing the bank to work in a way that is both in accordance with its goals but also with the needs a dynamic and ever-adapting reality faced by the members of the Business Council. A constant dialogue between those thinking digital economy and the NDB will be crucial for a strong and reactive economic bond that allows for sustainable growth in the member countries.

This leads us to another point of interest in the rapprochement, which is infrastructure. Apart from the consonant agendas that range from civil aviation to energy or even technical norms, infrastructure gains momentum because of the concern that material limitations keep up with the pace of digital innovation and advancements. By using the resources of the NDB and aligning them with the needs expressed by the Business Council, the member countries will be able to harness the full potential of an ever-growing digital economy.

Henceforth, one can take from the priority points of the Brazilian pro-tempore Presidency that there is a clear goal of furthering economic integration with digital modernization, so that any growth that is accomplished is allowed to resist changes and not become obsolete, that is to say, lasting and resilient change.

Many are the groups and international organizations that are faced with technological challenges and changes for their growing integration. In this sense, more than economic growth for a dynamic future, if the concerns that range from cybersecurity to infrastructure are properly coordinated, it is possible to believe that a new front in the BRICS agenda will surface in this presidency, and, if all challenges are met, we might me looking at future presidencies will work with one new priority, making of BRICS also E-BRICS