The HSRC's incubation of the South African BRICS think tank, 2013-2016

Abstract

The South African BRICS Think Tank (SABTT) was established through a Cabinet decision in the first quarter of 2013, and in that year the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) was appointed as the incubator of the national BRICS think tank for a period of one year, which was subsequently extended for the financial year 2014/15.This decision followed South Africas assumption of the Chair of the BRICS Group. A declaration on the establishment of the BRICS Think Tank Council (BTTC) was agreed upon by the five think tanks of the BRICS countries in March 2013 and was subsequently adopted at the 5th BRICS Summit in March 2013 in Durban (HSRC 2014). This decision allowed the SABTT to take its place alongside the other four BRIC think tanks in a formally constituted body that provided strategic inputs to the leaders of BRICS and coordinated research across the five countries.