BRAZIL, Russia, India and China will flaunt their unity against more established powers tomorrow as the four emerging economic giants hold the first summit of their grouping, known as Bric.

But while they will express determination to act together during the current economic crisis and beyond, they are years away from being a counterbalance to established global institutions, analysts say.

It is also unclear whether the presidents - Mr Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Mr Hu Jintao of China and Mr Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil - and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will agree to establish a more permanent global entity.

The first formal Bric summit will be held in Yekaterinburg, a city some 1,420km east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.

Analysts say the Bric nations are displaying a growing willingness to coordinate their efforts to counter United States global domination and forge a bigger role for themselves.

The Brics are expected to be major buyers of the very first bonds that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is working to issue, in line with commitments by developed and developing economies to provide

US$1.1 trillion (S$1.6 trillion) to the IMF and other global bodies to help the poor.

Both Russia and China have in recentmonths come out in favour of revamping global financial structures, saying there is a need for a new supra-national currency to prevent a repeat of the global economic crisis.

But analysts are sceptical that the Brics can create a new reserve currency or act as a tight economic or financial entity any time soon, even as they acknowledge the importance of the group's first gathering.

To establish the new reserve currency, the Brics would have to merge their economies, abandon their own currencies and give up control over their monetary policies at home.

Of the major economies, powerhouse China is seen as having the best shot at eclipsing the US as the world's largest market.

The Bric leaders first met informally on the sidelines of a Group of Eight summit in Toyako, Japan, last year.

- AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE