On 15 October, BRICS Solutions Awards started accepting applications from contestants. This international contest for best solutions and practices was organised by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Roscongress Foundation under auspices of the Russian BRICS Chairmanship in 2020.
“This contest is particularly important now as the entire world is relying on the best practices used by the BRICS countries to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus and we hope that the competition will present more solutions like this,” said ASI Director General Svetlana Chupsheva at a news conference marking the launch of the competition.
“The purpose of this contest is directly related to the main objective of Russia’s BRICS Chairmanship, which is to improve the living standards and quality of life in the five countries of the group,” said Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Sergei Ryabkov added that the contest could become an important part of the development of humanitarian contacts within BRICS. “The priority areas for us include, of course, infrastructure development, education and volunteering. I hope that this initiative will be further promoted and that the winning projects will be implemented across in the BRICS States,” the deputy minister said.
Sergei Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also confirmed the relevance and significance of the project. “More than anything, we look forward to seeing what innovative ideas the participants can propose – not only for business but also for in one way or another business-related activities, such as business partnership with the state, business relations with society, and business social responsibility. All seven categories are of great interest to us,” he pointed out.
“I am convinced that this competition will draw greater attention from the public. Roscongress will help integrate the most promising projects into its business events’ agenda. We will invite contest participants to join our industry-specific projects,” said Alexander Stuglev, Roscongress Foundation Board Chairman and Director.
The projects submitted to the BRICS Solutions Awards participants will be accumulated in an open-access databank of best practices and solutions in various spheres of socioeconomic development and their implementation to be given broad international information support
“The best practices will be selected based on several criteria, including their efficiency, socioeconomic impact and potential for circulating,” Svetlana Chupsheva said.
Applications will be accepted until 15 November 2020. The jury will select three finalists and one overall winner in each category by the end of November. The awards ceremony will take place online and will be attended by the authors of the winning projects, contest organizers and official representatives of the BRICS countries.
More details on the competition and the terms of participation can be found on the official website: https://brics.asi.ru/