The 17th BRICS Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro on July 6 and 7, 2025, produced a joint declaration that explicitly named quantum technologies as a strategic cooperation priority. Paragraph 79 of the Rio de Janeiro Declaration stated: “We appreciate the Brazilian proposal to consider artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and innovation in industry as priorities in 2025, in a novel context of rapid advancement of emerging technologies and national reindustrialization processes.”
Leaders also welcomed the BRICS Action Plan for Innovation 2025-2030, the launching of the seventh Joint Call for Research Projects, and the first Joint Call for Innovation Projects. The declaration celebrated the ten-year milestone of BRICS STI cooperation since the 2015 signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in STI. An accession protocol to incorporate new members into the MoU was also underway.
At the accompanying 13th Meeting of BRICS Science and Education Ministers, quantum technologies were confirmed as a top priority. Brazil’s presidency had placed science, technology, and innovation as central axes of cooperation, with quantum computing, quantum communications, and quantum sensing identified as subthemes for coordinated work among member states.