Moscow to host the first BRICS Parliamentary Forum on 8 June

On 8 June 2015, Moscow will host the BRICS Parliamentary Forum, Yury Shuvalov, Head of Russia's State Duma Public Relations and Media Department, told reporters. "This meeting has been initiated by Brazil and will be the first of its kind in history," he said.

The forum will be organised by the State Duma and Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The forum's two-section plenary meeting will be chaired by Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin and Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko.

According to Mr Shuvalov, the first section will focus on international security, economic development, anti-crisis policy, and global sustainable development. During the second part, participants will discuss BRICS development and promotion as an integration body, as well as the future of BRICS in general and its parliamentary dimension in particular.

Mr Shuvalov went on to say that Russia intended to submit a proposal on making the BRICS Parliamentary Forum a permanent mechanism in cooperation between the five countries and on establishing a virtual secretariat. "We would like to propose creating an online system for supporting parliamentary activity and facilitating online cooperation between parliaments, opening special sections on the websites of all participating parliaments and making the necessary arrangements for enabling a virtual secretariat to operate between meetings," he said. A number of joint projects could also be initiated, including on youth parliamentarism or law-making.

The forum begins at 11 am.

Doors will open to media representatives at10 am.
Accreditation is open until 2 pm on 4 June 2015, by fax 8 (495) 692-91-46 or e-mail vinograd@duma.gov.ru.
Point of contact: Yelena Vinogradova.

Phone number: 8 (495) 692-27-39.

Russian media representatives are required to provide their full name, date and place of birth, name of the media outlet, their position and a contact phone number.
Attention! Journalists who are not permanently accredited with the State Duma are required to submit an accreditation application on official letterhead with the signature of the editor-in-chief as well as a copy of the media company's registration certificate.

Foreign media representatives must provide their full name, citizenship, Russian Foreign Ministry accreditation number, date and place of birth, name of the media outlet, their position and a contact phone number.

Live streaming of the forum will be available on the website of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.