BRICS Investment Platform to Streamline Cross-Border Finance and Trade
According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, the BRICS investment platform is being developed to streamline access to capital, enhance economic cooperation, and simplify cross-border transactions among member countries. Key components under consideration for the platform’s financial infrastructure include central bank digital currencies, tokenized instruments, stablecoins, and currency conversion mechanisms.
The concept of a BRICS investment platform was first proposed in October 2024 during the group’s summit in Kazan. Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested building the platform upon the New Development Bank (NDB) to support national economies and facilitate their financing through electronic tools. This proposal was further developed in the summer of 2025, with the creation of a comprehensive digital platform for investment and financial transactions being prioritized.
While the NDB has historically financed infrastructure projects in BRICS and other developing economies, the new platform’s mission differs. The NDB primarily operates through large loans and conventional interbank financing. In contrast, the investment platform is envisioned as a digital, multi-purpose hub for attracting private, long-term capital. Its geographical scope could extend beyond core BRICS members to include emerging markets, Global South nations, and partner countries with growing populations.
The platform aims to act as an intermediary between economic entities and financial institutions, presenting projects with clear investment opportunities and risks, and enabling applicants to identify suitable financial resources. Abed Amiri, a representative of the BRICS Hub center in Iran and Russia and an expert in BRICS economic and technological cooperation, highlighted the potential benefits of this model, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These companies, he noted, may lack international teams but possess competitive products, technologies, and ideas, requiring capital, information, expertise, and reliable connections for growth.
Should the initiative materialize, the NDB could provide the financial and institutional foundation for this new ecosystem. Amiri emphasized that the investment platform is not intended to replace the NDB but rather to assist in project preparation, enabling the NDB to explore financing opportunities and attract suitable partners. Lavlesh Taneja, Vice President and Head of the India Desk at the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, stated that components of the project, including an integrated digital platform and an interactive map of BRICS special economic zones called ‘Invest Navigator,’ have already been launched, with the broader ecosystem’s completion to occur in stages.
The Delhi Declaration also underscored the continuation of technical activities related to the new investment platform, welcoming the progress of discussions during India’s presidency and emphasizing the use of guidelines finalized during Brazil’s presidency. The platform’s funding is expected to be directed towards BRICS priority areas, including logistics corridors, urban infrastructure, technology and artificial intelligence, and renewable energy. Experts also pointed to the potential of projects related to superintelligence and healthcare, which could benefit from the development of digital health platforms, medical technologies, wearable sensors, robotics, AI-driven diagnostics, and human augmentation technologies.
Habib Nourbahi, a university professor and Deputy Dean for Research and Innovation at North-West University in South Africa, told TV BRICS that the platform’s value extends beyond capital access, fostering cross-border partnerships, technology transfer, market entry, and innovation development within BRICS nations. This mechanism is particularly significant for startups and SMEs possessing enabling technologies but lacking the capital or business connections for international market entry. The platform could also serve as a gateway for investors and companies to access large-scale governmental and international projects.
Prior to the BRICS summit in India, Vladimir Putin announced Russia’s readiness to cooperate with partners on infrastructure and logistics projects, including the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor and the International North-South Transport Corridor, alongside advancements in technology, AI, autonomous transport, finance, tourism, and industry. Experts believe the primary objective of the new investment platform is not solely financial, but also to bridge the gap between idea conception and practical execution. Amiri explained that after identifying a promising project, the subsequent steps involve partner vetting, agreement on cooperation terms, legal issue resolution, capital attraction, and payment mechanism establishment. He noted that BRICS nations require such collaborations, which have spurred the development of local technology and business platforms, like the BRICS Hub Moscow, uniting startups and venture capital funds from member countries.
However, scaling up joint cooperation necessitates increased speed and simplified communication. Amiri stressed the importance of a multilingual environment to overcome language and geographical barriers, enabling entrepreneurs to present projects, find partners, and negotiate cooperation terms. Experts also advocate for the platform’s resources to support the development of science and intellectual property within BRICS, rather than increasing reliance on external technologies. This approach should also guide the design of the platform’s own underlying technologies. Taneja suggested that integrating digital and electronic assets, tokenized instruments, stablecoins, and national digital currencies, alongside alternative mechanisms, can reduce dependence on traditional settlement methods. He also emphasized the need for stable cross-border payment mechanisms, potentially including systems like ‘BRICS Pay’ or direct currency conversion to the recipient country’s currency.
BRICS member states are actively exploring ways to enhance the compatibility and interoperability of their national payment systems. Amiri highlighted this as a crucial area of cooperation, prioritizing the making of cross-border payments, especially using national currencies, more understandable, predictable, and accessible for businesses. Ahead of the BRICS summit in India, member countries examined the potential for connecting fast payment systems and central bank digital currencies. Sanjay Malhotra, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, reportedly stated that such connectivity could reduce the cost of cross-border transactions. Several options for financial integration were discussed, though a definitive model and timeline have yet to be established, and details regarding the technical infrastructure remain undisclosed. Nevertheless, the Delhi Declaration reaffirms the continuation of activities concerning common settlement centers, the investment platform, and a framework for transactions in national currencies. Furthermore, finance ministries and central banks of member states are considering the formation of a specialized working group under the NDB to elaborate the technical, regulatory, and executive details of the investment platform.
The BRICS investment platform is poised to offer an alternative source of finance for Global South and Eastern nations, expanding their development financing options. Nourbahi believes many Global South countries possess capable researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators, but face unequal access to capital, infrastructure, processing power, and international markets. The BRICS platform, by financing context-specific solutions and linking innovation ecosystems, can help reduce this gap. This capacity is particularly relevant in artificial intelligence, where developing solutions tailored to demographic characteristics, local data, environmental conditions, and national priorities can strengthen the technological independence of Global South nations. AI models trained on indigenous data can offer a more accurate reflection of societal diversity. If these objectives are met, Global South countries could transition from technology consumers to developers, owners, and exporters, a shift crucial for reducing technological dependency and increasing their share in the knowledge-based economy.
Following the BRICS agreement on the platform’s conceptual model, technological design, regulatory harmonization, and legal integration will be undertaken. Potential steps include establishing a digital framework, ensuring interoperability between participating countries’ central bank digital currencies, harmonizing national laws, and connecting financial markets and banks. Amiri cautioned, however, that technology alone cannot replace institutions and regulations. A shared digital interface will not eliminate differences in banking and currency laws among BRICS countries, but it can mask the complexity of these differences for users, making international operations clearer and simpler. Taneja also identified cultural and legal differences, along with market heterogeneity, as practical obstacles to implementation, advocating for selective and phased harmonization.
Ultimately, experts believe the platform’s success will be measured not by the complexity of its technology, but by the number of projects brought to fruition. Amiri concluded that BRICS requires an environment where business connections lead to cooperation, cooperation to investment, and investment to production, innovation, and the creation of new employment opportunities.
