Johannesburg July 26 (IANS) The curtain of the BRICS Business Forum which is part of the 10th BRICS Summit was raised here in South Africa on Wednesday.

According to organisers about 1 000 delegates including heads of state from Brazil Russia India China and South Africa gathered at the Sandton Convention Centre for the event Xinhua news agency reported.

They deliberated on the current global political economy and its implications for BRICS member countries and the impact of the 4th industrial revolution on inclusive growth and transformation.

Issues concerning facilitating intra-BRICS trade and fostering BRIC-Africa partnerships are also on agenda.

Addressing the forum South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said this year marks a decade of BRICS collaboration during which the BRICS countries have successfully shaped an ambitious agenda for development that recognizes the great potential the countries possess for collective action.

Intra-BRICS cooperation has been gaining momentum in areas such as finance agriculture trade combating transnational crime science and technology health education security and academic dialogue according to Ramaphosa.

He said that the forum provided a platform to harness the benefits of globalization and to confront the challenges it presents.

"As South Africa we have acknowledged that to effectively deal with poverty unemployment and inequality we need to significantly increase the level of investment in our economy to lift growth and create jobs."

Ramaphosa said South Africa was seeking to reinforce the strong bonds that the country developed with the BRICS partners by expanding investment into the country.

--IANS pgh/