China, Russia, India, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Indonesia - participated in the seventh BRICS working group meeting on research infrastructure and mega-science projects that began in Tehran on December 8, TASS and IRNA reported.

"This working group, created in 2015, is designed to define practical and operational forms of cooperation and joint research to address global problems and challenges, especially in the countries of the global South," Zohra Farahani, head of the group for cooperation with international organisations at the Presidential Centre for Cooperation in Transformation, said, according to TASS.

The three-day meeting is supported by the Organisation for the Development of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation and the Presidential Centre for Cooperation in Transformation, hosting scientific and technology delegations from BRICS member countries.

Iranian representatives opened the meeting with presentations on the country's capacity in research infrastructure and the knowledge-based economy. Other member country representatives then delivered opening remarks, with Russia's representative providing a report on the previous meeting held in Russia.

The meeting focused on developing joint scientific cooperation amongst BRICS countries, improving financing mechanisms for large scientific projects, and raising the role of research institutes as drivers of innovation, sustainable development and scientific diplomacy, Mehr reported.

Countries will present their policies, achievements and national programmes in research infrastructure and mega-science projects. On the second day, representatives will propose joint programmes, strategies and future plans, with a framework cooperation document to be reviewed.

The agenda includes visits to Iran's advanced scientific centres including the National Brain Laboratory and the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences.

Earlier on December 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that BRICS countries should use national currencies to cut intra-country trade costs, as part of a push by the group to move away from the US dollar.

Putin made the comments in the Kremlin with members of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation – heads of the parliaments of the CSTO member states.

The Russian president ordered the immediate implementation of a plan for structural changes to Russia's economy. "Conditions and opportunities have now been created for a gradual increase in economic dynamism whilst maintaining low unemployment," he said, according to ANA.

The group also launched a working prototype of a gold-backed trade currency known as the “Unit”, as the world’s leading emerging markets search for a way to ditch the dollar, the Institute for Economic Strategies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IRIAS) reported on December 4.

BRICS includes Iran, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa and the UAE. The bloc has focused on developing scientific cooperation, research infrastructure and major scientific projects including advanced computing centres, particle accelerators, large observatories, biobanks and other mega-science projects.