MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Converting BRICS, a grouping of five emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — into a full-fledged cooperation mechanism in major issues of global economy and politics will be a key goal of Russia’s upcoming presidency, a senior Russian diplomat told China’s Xinhua news agency in an interview.

“Since April 2015, Russia assumes the functions of BRICS president,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said, noting that the grouping has become a “significant factor in the world economy and politics” since the first full-scale diplomatic meeting in Russia’s Yekaterinburg in 2009.

The long-term aim of Russia and its partners is to transform BRICS from a “dialogue forum and tool of coordinating positions on a limited range of issues into a full-fledged mechanism of cooperation in the key issues of global economy and politics.”

“This is our approach to defining the tasks for the upcoming Russian presidency in this grouping,” he said.

One of the major goals of Russia’s presidency will be implementing the BRICS decisions on setting up its own financial institutions, namely the New Development Bank and a currency reserve pool.

These institutions are aimed at “stabilizing capital markets of the member-states in case of crisis situations in the global economy and also deepening the integration of our states, increasing their trade and investment capacities,” Morgulov said.