The primary purpose of BRICS is multilateral development, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the opening of the 15th edition of the group's summit, which is taking place from August 22-24 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The leader called for a reform of global financial system, lauded the BRICS New Development Bank's role in this direction.
"We require a fundamental reform of the global financial institutions so that they can be more agile and responsive to the challenges facing developing economies...," he said.
He also announced the discussion of BRICS expamsion on Tuesday.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and China's Xi Jinping. India is represented by its Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russia by its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Vladimir Putin participates in the event by videoconference.