By Mathew Thongminlal

 

The BRICS summit, held on September 12-13 in New Delhi under India's chair, focused on the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability." The theme emphasized a people-centric approach and cooperation among the Global South, particularly in the context of challenges posed by unilateralism, global security, emerging technologies, trade and environmental issues. Its founding members include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Later countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia joined after attaining full membership in January 2024. Indonesia was the latest country to join in January 2025. When the idea of inviting partner countries to join was introduced in 2025, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam joined BRICS. This expansion of BRICS membership, involving emerging and developing countries, has brought new momentum into the drivers of global growth and technological development in the forthcoming decades.

Vietnam - BRICS Partnership:

Vietnam is an emerging economy of the Global South with significant potential to contribute to BRICS development. Over the decade, it has emerged as a notable manufacturing powerhouse, predominantly in the sectors of textiles and electronics. GDP of Vietnam is worth 514.70 billion US dollars in 2025 according to an official data from the World Bank, which is among the third largest economies among ASEAN countries. In the first half of 2026 its economy grew at around 8.2 per cent which is also among the fastest growing economy among ASEAN countries. This growth is based on the country's strong industrial production base, export driven and inbound of foreign investment. The industrial production volume was 10.8 per cent in the fast half of 2026, manufacturing rising to 11.4 per cent, while foreign direct investment disbursement increased by 11.2 per cent year-on-year, reaching up to US$ 13 billion in the first half of 2026.

According to the Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology its hi-tech products accounted for 50.76 percent of total exports in the first quarter. It ranked 50th in Startup Blink's Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026. As reported by Vietnam News, the English language daily, "Vietnam's domestic innovation ecosystem has also continued to expand with 963 sci-tech enterprises, 20 sci-tech exchanges and 37 innovation centres operating across 26 out of 34 cities and provinces nationwide. Vietnam has over 110.5 million mobile broadband subscriptions, including 24.29 million 5G users, alongside 25.62 million fixed broadband subscriptions". With the growth of digital technology and mass digitalization usage, its digital economy has contributed to an estimate of about 14.02 per cent of its GDP in 2025 that is about US$72.1billion. According the available statistics, Foreign Direct Investment has been a major driving force behind rapid economic growth and industrialization of Vietnam. In 2025, it has attracted $27.62 billion in disbursed FDI from countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other countries. According to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), "the country has welcome 12.3 million international visitors in the first six months of 2026, which is up to 15% year-one-year. The tourism industries reached 569 trillion VND (21.6 billion USD) which is up to 9.8% year-on-year increase surpassing the halfway mark of the sector's revenue goal of 2026".

H.E. Mr. Le Minh Hung, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam participated in 20th BRICS summit held in New Delhi on September 12-13 as a partner country. The BRICS summit, an important platform whereby Vietnam can further advance its diplomatic cooperation with African countries, Middle East, Latin Americas, South Asian countries and wider Global South. This cooperation and opportunities rage from securing its energy supply routes, security, resilience in global supply chains, diversification of treaded and technological ties. As Vietnam economy is largely driven by industrial production, export driven and inbound foreign direct investment, the BRICS play a crucial driver in overall economic growth of the country. Further, this platform allows Vietnam to promote its tourism industry by attracting these countries. This will allow its national target of allowing 25 million foreign tourists in the country.

(a). Trade and market diversification

Vietnam is a significant manufacturing and export nation in Asia. Consequently, the country depends on foreign direct investment (FDI) for the comprehensive growth of its economy. The BRICS provides Vietnamese companies with access to an extensive economic network that includes China, India, Russia, Brazil, the Gulf economies, Africa, Indonesia, and the broader Global South. This collaboration can improve cooperation in areas such as trade and market access, investment flows among member countries, supply chains and logistical support, as well as in the fields of science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation. This will help enable Vietnam to not only depend on a single major market and have different markets in the Global South economies.

(b). BRICS investment in Vietnam

Given the trade and tariff tension between the US and China, Vietnam has emerged as a global manufacturing hub and a prime destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). Key manufacturing industries which have already been established such as electronics, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and critical minerals gave an edge for investors to invest. By taking advantage of this, Vietnam can take advantage of BRICS cooperation to attract diverse investments, from member countries such as Indian technology firms, Chinese manufacturing sectors, Russian energy and industrial collaborations, Gulf capital, Brazilian agriculture and food sectors, as well as Indonesian and other ASEAN investments. Besides, both Vietnam and Indonesia can serve to facilitate cooperation between the BRICS and ASEAN countries. Cooperation and collaboration can be in areas such as resilient supply chains, digital trade, energy and food security, sustainable development, environmental issues, logistics, advanced manufacturing, and green industries. Given ASEAN emerging as a significant economic player, for example in 2024, ASEAN's goods trade accounted to approximately $3.8 trillion, services trade to about $1.3 trillion, and FDI inflows to around $226 billion. Therefore, cooperation between these two forums is expected to significantly accelerate economic growth.

(c). BRICS forum can help boost Vietnam tourism industry

In fast interconnected world, tourism industries emerged as a significant sector of economic growth in various countries. International tourism has become a pivotal factor in economic development with the improvement of the means of transport and communications system and global digital networking. Countries such as Thailand, the Maldives, Australia, and Greece, among others, rely heavily on international tourists to boost their economic growth. This has given boost to the tourism industry which has rapidly grown over the years attracting international travelers. As previously stated, Vietnam's tourism sector expanded over the years due to the government intervention in welcoming more foreign tourists as well as Vietnam Ministry of Tourism target of achieving over 25 million tourist this year. With this target in place, the BRICS forum can an opportunity for Vietnam in attracting more tourists from this partner countries.

(d). BRICS forum as diplomatic outreach for Vietnam

As a multilateral institution, the BRICS forum offers Vietnam an opportunity to diversify and deepen its diplomatic relations beyond its traditional partners. Vietnam can leverage by engaging with BRICS member countries to strengthen political partnership, enhance economic cooperation, and participate in collaborative initiatives that align with its development goals. This enables Vietnam to increase its diplomatic footprint and strengthen its presence in a dynamic region which is shaped by emerging economies. BRICS framework provide opportunity to Vietnam to advance its economic interests through market access, investment potential, and technology transfers. During the Summit, Prime Minister H. E. Le Minh Hung outlined three major directions that would drive Vietnam-BRICS partnership. These include, "strengthening the resilience and self-reliance of economies; creating new, inclusive and sustainable drivers of growth; and promoting cooperation in science, technology and innovation". Besides, Vietnam can also benefit from their shared experiences and joint efforts at sustainable development, infrastructural growth, and trade diversification. This will enable Vietnam to consolidate its role as an active player in the Global South, thereby enhancing its influence on the international stage.

India-Vietnam and the 18th BRICS Summit

Vietnam's participation in the 18th BRICS Summit as a partner country marked an important step in strengthening its ties with other member states. During the summit, the Prime Minister of Vietnam H. E. Le Minh Hung held a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The meeting underlined the growing diplomatic engagement between India and Vietnam within the BRICS agenda. Prime Minister of India had expressed a positive and welcoming attitude toward Vietnam's active involvement in the BRICS. This has signaled further support to enhanced bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Vietnam's participation in the summit highlights its strategic efforts to deepen partnerships with key emerging economies and to play a proactive role in regional and global affairs through the BRICS forum. Vietnam holds a key geo-strategic player among ASEAN countries. This has enabled India to pay great importance to its bilateral relations with Vietnam which lies within its 'Act East' policy and broader 'Indo-Pacific Vision'. Partnership between both countries is crucial for promoting a "free, open, and rules-based" Indo-Pacific region, reflecting shared interests in regional stability and cooperation. Both India and Vietnam, can contributes significantly to these strategic objectives, reinforcing their commitment to maintaining "peace, security, and prosperity" in the region. Besides diplomatic and strategic partnership, India and Vietnam have been actively expanding their cooperation in areas such as shared cultural and civilizational values and people-to-people connections.

India and Vietnam have longstanding ties and both countries have upgraded their relationship to an 'Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership' (ECSP) in May 2026. The discussions during the summit, also focused on accelerating collaboration in defense technology, supply chains, trade and investment and industrial sectors, which will strengthen their ECSP. Furthermore, both countries emphasized on exploring ways to deepen maritime cooperation to safeguard critical sea lanes and advance mutual security interests. These developments highlight the growing partnership between India-Vietnam relations, particularly within the context of the BRICS platform and their shared regional priorities.

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Mathew Thongminlal is a Research Scholar at the Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Currently he is doing internship with Centre for Vietnam Studies, New Delhi.