Few concepts/ideas/notions have become more and more popular(gained more popularity/currency) among business people and politicians in recent years than the idea(that) of the BRICs the giant, emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, whose weight and influence is supposedly changing economic and political realities. Grouping the four, however, covers/obscures a simple fact: While the rise of China and India represents a real change/shift in the power balance, Russia and Brazil are marginal economies (which were) supported (propped up) by high Prices of natural resources. This difference has profound implications/significance.
The fundamental difference between China and India on the one hand and Russia and Brazil on the other is that the former are competing with the west for “intellectual capital” by seeking to build first-class/first-rate/top-notch universities, investing in high, value, added and technologically intensive/technology-intensive industries and utilizing their successful overseas compatriots to generate entrepreneurial activity in the motherland(mother country). Chinese, for example, are committed to developing 100 world-class/world-level universities, with a focus on science and engineering. India boasts one of the most dynamic information technology sectors outside the US. Both face challenges but they are taking [the] steps/measures necessary to achieve/generate sustainable economic growth.