section_path: History/Other initiatives
section_name: Other initiatives
paragraph_text: Other initiatives
  
  Since 2011, the National Institutes of Statistics of the BRICS group of countries (Institute of Geography and Statistics (Brazil), Federal State Statistics Service (Russia), the National Bureau of Statistics (China), the Central Statistics Office (India), and Statistics South Africa) produce an annual joint statistical publication to put statistical production in perspective, compare adopted methodologies and statistical results. The publication serves as a single data platform for the mutual benefit of participating countries.
  
  Since 2012, the BRICS group of countries has been planning an optical fiber submarine communications cable system to carry telecommunications between the BRICS countries, known as the BRICS Cable. Part of the motivation for the project was the spying of the U.S. National Security Agency on all telecommunications that flowed in and out of United States territory. Construction of the proposed cable network was abandoned in 2015, possibly due to cost.
  
  In August 2019, the communications ministers of the BRICS countries signed a letter of intent to cooperate in the Information and Communication Technology sector. This agreement was signed in the fifth edition of the meeting of communication ministers of countries member of the group held in Brasília, Brazil.
  
  The New Development Bank plans on giving out $15 billion to member states to help their struggling economies. Member countries are hoping for a smooth comeback and a continuation of economic trade pre-COVID-19. The 2020 BRICS summit was held virtually in St. Petersburg, Russia, and discussed how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and how to fix the multilateral system via reforms. During the 13th BRICS summit, in 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a transparent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 under the World Health Organization with the full cooperation of "all countries", and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke directly afterwards, calling on BRICS countries to "oppose politicisation" of the process.
  
  In May 2023, South Africa announced that it would be giving diplomatic immunity to Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials so that they could attend the 15th BRICS Summit despite the ICC arrest warrant for Putin. In July 2023, the Russian president announced that he would not personally attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on 22–24 August despite good relations with the South African government. Russian news channels noted that Putin would remotely participate online in all BRICS leaders' sessions, including its Business Forum, and also deliver his remarks virtually.
  
  In the first 15 years of BRICS, it produced hundreds of decisions and complied with a majority of them. BRICS has established almost 60 intra-group institutions and a network including think tanks and dialogues in various areas. The group has an agenda of over 30 subjects. These groups include: BRICS Business Council, BRICS Think Tanks Council, BRICS Women's Business Alliance, BRICS Business Forum, and the BRICS Academic Forum. At Kazan the establishment of a BRICS Deep-Sea Resources International Research Center and a BRICS Digital Ecosystem Cooperation Network was announced.
  
  In 2021 BRICS formally agreed to work together to build a satellite constellation and share remote sensing satellite data from this. The constellation will have six existing satellites from China, Russia and India. In 2023, Russia proposed that the other BRICS members could build a joint research station on its space station.