BRICS Business Forum 2026: Piyush Goyal urges nations to open markets, cut trade barriers and link payment systems
At the BRICS Business Forum 2026 in New Delhi, held ahead of the leaders' summit, the Commerce and Industry Ministry called on BRICS countries to open markets to each other, cut non-tariff barriers, and link payment systems.
The Ministry urged member and partner countries to open markets for each other's products, including raw materials and critical minerals, while simplifying regulatory procedures and speeding up customs clearance.
Non-tariff measures were flagged as a major impediment to trade, with the claim that they can impose costs on exporters higher than tariffs themselves.
A specific pitch was made for BRICS countries to link their payment systems and use India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a model, noting UPI's use in 11 countries and India's position as accounting for more than half of global real-time transaction volumes.
Greater cross-border mobility of professionals, mutual recognition of qualifications, and a bigger role for women-led enterprises and startups in intra-BRICS trade were also raised, linked to India's goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) — Types and the WTO Framework
Non-tariff barriers are trade restrictions that do not take the form of a tariff (customs duty) but still raise the cost or difficulty of importing goods. They are a distinct category from tariffs in trade policy analysis, and modern trade negotiations (including the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement) focus heavily on reducing them since global average tariffs have already fallen substantially since the GATT/WTO era began.
The call to "cut non-tariff barriers" among BRICS members maps directly onto this WTO-recognised category of trade restriction — the Ministry's claim that NTBs cost more than tariffs echoes the standard trade-policy rationale for why the WTO created a dedicated Trade Facilitation Agreement.
GATS and the Four Modes of Services Trade — "Mode 4" (Movement of Professionals)
The WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), part of the Uruguay Round agreements that came into force in 1995, classifies international services trade into four "modes of supply." The call for "opening up services trade" and easier movement of professionals across BRICS borders falls specifically under GATS Mode 4.
Key Details
- Mode 1 (Cross-border supply): service supplied from one country to another without either party moving (e.g., outsourced call centres).
- Mode 2 (Consumption abroad): consumer travels to the supplier's country (e.g., medical tourism).
- Mode 3 (Commercial presence): a company sets up a local subsidiary/branch in another country (e.g., an insurance firm opening an office abroad).
- Mode 4 (Movement of natural persons): individuals temporarily entering another country to supply a service (e.g., IT professionals, doctors, engineers); this is the least liberalised of the four modes globally, since it intersects with immigration and labour-market policy, not just trade policy.
The push for easier cross-border movement of professionals and mutual recognition of qualifications among BRICS states is a Mode-4 services liberalisation demand — traditionally the most politically sensitive of the four GATS modes for any country to concede.
BRICS Business Forum and BRICS Business Council — Institutional Track for the Private Sector
Distinct from the intergovernmental BRICS Summit, the BRICS Business Forum and BRICS Business Council are the institutional channels through which the private sector engages with the grouping's economic agenda.
Key Details
- The BRICS Business Forum was established in 2010 and meets on the eve of each Leaders' Summit, bringing together business leaders to discuss expanding trade and investment.
- The BRICS Business Council was established at the Fifth BRICS Summit (Durban, 2013) and comprises business associations from each member country; it organises its work through sectoral working groups (including infrastructure, manufacturing, financial services, energy, agribusiness, and digital economy) and makes recommendations to the intergovernmental track.
- The Business Council's chairship rotates among member countries, typically aligning with the country holding the overall annual BRICS Chairship.
- This structure distinguishes the "Sherpa track" (intergovernmental coordination) from the "Business track" (private-sector recommendations), both feeding into the annual Leaders' Summit and its joint declaration.
The Commerce Ministry's remarks were delivered specifically at the Business Forum (not the intergovernmental Sherpa or Finance tracks), reflecting the forum's role as the platform where governments pitch initiatives (like payment-system linkage) directly to the business community for private-sector buy-in.
- WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: concluded 2013 (Bali), entered into force February 2017.
- GATS (WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services): came into force 1995, defines four modes of services trade; Mode 4 covers movement of natural persons/professionals.
- BRICS Business Forum: established 2010, meets ahead of each Leaders' Summit.
- BRICS Business Council: established 2013 at the Durban Summit; organised into nine sectoral working groups.
- India's UPI: cited as accepted in 11 countries; claimed to record over 250 billion transactions a year and account for more than half of global real-time payment transaction volumes.
- BRICS bloc (as invoked in the address): described as accounting for nearly a quarter of global trade, about 40% of global GDP, and around half of world population.
- Cited domestic figures: more than 45% of India's roughly 250,000 recognised startups have at least one woman partner/director; two-thirds of small loans issued over the past decade have gone to women entrepreneurs.