BRICS
IBGE participates in meetings with BRICS national statistics offices
April 16, 2026 02h27 PM | Last Updated: April 17, 2026 02h47 PM
The IBGE participated in the first one in a round of two online meetings with BRICS national statistics offices, in response to an invitation from India's Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), having as theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
The meeting started at 7:30 am (Brasília time), on Thursday (16), with discussions on common bases for the conceptual and methodological approach to official statistics, aiming at sharing knowledge and experiences. “The objective is to analyze opportunities and challenges of the digital economy. It is important to identify and measure their impact. That is the point," said Cimar Azeredo Pereira, advisor to the presidency of the IBGE.
In addition to IBGE officials, other attendees were representatives of statistical offices in South Africa, China, Egypt, Arab Emirates, Ethyopia, Indonesia and Russia. India mediated the discussions as current president of BRICS, a position it has held since December last year, succeeding Brazil.
MoSPI's Deputy Director General, Ruchika Gupta, presented the Joint Statistical Publication, of BRICS, created in 2010, as the result of a giant action of the bloc. “It shows cross check and analysis over time. It also provides detailed data on the most important microecomomic and social indicators."
The researcher and professor from Ence (National School of Statistical Sciences), Maria Luíza de Toledo explained that the journal fills an important gap in the editorial scenario. “We know there are a number of statistica journals and publications in the world, but what makes this one unique is emphasis on investigation rooted in institutional reform, data ecosystems and in the development of countries.”
The meeting's agenda went beyond the publication and addressed IBGE's contributions to the BRICS bloc. Following Brazil's presidency of BRICS, the Institute proposed the creation of four working groups: Indicators of the Digital Age, International Journal of BRICS Statistics, International Knowledge Center for the Digital Age, and Observatory of National Experiences in Economic Development, Poverty Reduction and Climate Change. “It is important to have an overview of the progress made by the Working Groups. The Groups meet separately, and not all countries are part of all of them, so it is important to have this moment to share information,” said Andrea Diniz da Silva, Head of International Relations at the IBGE.
The presentation about the implementation phase of the IBGE's International Center for Knowledge of the Digital Age (CICED) was given by Rômulo Brito, a journalist from the IBGE News Agency. The project had been approved at a BRICS event in 2025. The initiative kick off includes a virtual distance learning phase, bringing together statistical and geosciences institutes from member countries to offer free courses and workshops, with IBGE certification. The material will focus on training civil servants and young people in strategic areas of the Digital Age, such as data science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital transformation.
Antônio Caminada, Deputy Head of International Relations, emphasized the importance of the meeting: "The technical meeting of the BRICS National Statistics Offices aims to bridge the gap between the previous year's Joint Statistical Publication and the current year's. Brazil, which held the pro-tempore presidency in 2025, reported on its experiences in editing and publishing last year's JSP – what worked, what could be improved, lessons learned, and suggestions – and then passed the baton to India, responsible for this year's publication. The spirit of collaboration is always an element of NSOs, and Brazil hopes to contribute to the success of India's term in the Presidency.
The first meeting ended around 11 am (Brasilia time). The president of IBGE, Marcio Pochmann, highlighted that the agency's participation in the event “expresses, with technical depth and strategic vision, the commitment to the BRICS countries in building a new global statistical architecture, to translate the transformations of the digital age into shared knowledge, effective cooperation and informational sovereignty”. To resume the debates, a new meeting with all the institutes was scheduled for the same time on Friday (17). For the meeting, discussions are planned on topics such as environment, economy, agriculture, transport and information and communication technologies.
