On November 11, 2013, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a round table "Economic, socio-political, and ethno-confessional problems of the Eastern countries", organized by the Center for Research on General Problems of the Modern East (CIOPSV IB RAS) (responsible for the organization: O. P. Bibikova, N. N. Tsvetkova). The round table was attended by employees of the CIOPSV, the Center for Economic Research, the Center for the Near and Middle East, other departments of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, employees of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, undergraduates of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University. The work was carried out in three areas: economic problems of the Eastern countries; socio-political problems; ethno-confessional problems of the Eastern countries. The round table was opened by O. P. Bibikova (IB RAS). N. N. Tsvetkova (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a presentation on " BRICS Asian TNCs and the Future Development of BRICS. Breakthrough Economies of the next Decade". Will the BRICS countries maintain their economic momentum in the next decade? Will there be new leaders in terms of economic growth among Afro-Asian countries? R. Sharma, Head of the Emerging Markets Department of the largest American investment corporation Morgan Stanley, sees the prospects of becoming breakthrough economies in the next decade in Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand, the Philippines, and Nigeria [Sharma, 2013, pp. 329-335]. R. Sharma assesses the prospects of the BRICS countries rather negatively. He speaks about the expected slowdown in growth in China, which, however, at the achieved level of economic development will remain one of the world's leading economies, the reduction in China's demand for raw materials due to the slowdown in growth, on the one hand, and the development of alternative energy, the u ... Read more