The 15th BRICS Summit concluded on Thursday under the presidency of South Africa after a three-day meeting.
Johannesburg, South Africa.- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa informed that Argentina, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia will join the group on January 1, 2024. But it will maintain its current name, which has already become a brand name, and none of the newcomers to its ranks suggested otherwise,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
BRICS can change the world
In 25 pages, BRICS members addressed on Thursday most of all the southern countries' demands, particularly goal-centered to boosting inclusive multilateralism.
BRICS’ five country members – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, were joined by over 60 leaders from several countries and international organizations invited to the 15th BRICS Summit, along with the BRICS Plus Dialogue and the known BRICS Africa Outreach in Johannesburg since August 22nd.
In the event’s final statement, BRICS’ members reiterated their commitment to inclusive multilateralism and the defense of international law, and called for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, intending to make it more democratic, representative, effective, and efficient.
Another goal of the BRICS is to bolster the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions among its members, as well as in their trade with their partner developing nations.
Consequently, if this proposal materializes, a considerable part of the volume of hydrocarbons worldwide will no longer be traded in US dollars, but in local currencies.
BRICS Group expands its membership
The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced that the BRICS group is expanding by incorporating Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, most of them major hydrocarbon producers.
On the subject, Ramaphosa revealed that foreign ministers have been tasked with further developing the BRICS partner country model and a list of possible new members to be reported on the next Summit.
The South African president announced some of the main results of the 15th Summit, which concludes today, and highlighted that the five member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have reached an agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process. “We have reached consensus on the first phase of this expansion process, and additional phases will follow.”
Expectations that the economic partnership will deliver “tangible benefits to our communities and provide viable solutions to common challenges facing the global South” were also addressed.
The Johannesburg II Declaration demonstrates “the shared values and common interests that underlie our mutually beneficial cooperation as the five BRICS countries,” the South African president said.
“At the 15th Summit, the group was ratified as an equal association of countries that have different points of view, but share a vision of a better world,” he said.
“Through this Summit, the BRICS have embarked on a new chapter in their effort to build a just world that is also inclusive and prosperous,” he concluded.
Guterres calls to strengthen multilateralism at BRICS Summit
As a factor of peace, equity, and justice, Multipolarity must be supported by strong and effective multilateral institutions, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said at the 15th BRICS Summit on Thursday.
The UN chief stressed that the current global crisis demands unity among nations for a new order.
“I have come to Johannesburg with a simple message: In a fracturing world overwhelmed by crises, there is simply no alternative to cooperation,” Guterres added and called to restore confidence in multilateralism and more solidarity.
“As the global community moves towards multipolarity, we urgently need, and I have been vigorously advocating it, a strengthened and reformed multilateral architecture based on the United Nations Charter and international law,” he stressed.
Guterres stated that today’s global governance structures reflect yesterday’s world, “when colonial powers still ruled many African countries and were not even at the negotiating table.
He listed some of the organization’s initiatives to speed up change in the global system, including promoting Sustainable Development Goals, a Climate Solidarity Pact in which developed countries provide financial and technical support to help emerging economies, and an Accelerated Agenda to reduce carbon emissions.
Now more than ever, it is necessary to compromise for the common good with full respect for the UN Charter, international law, universal values, and all human rights: social, cultural, economic, civil, and political, the UN head said.
Putin says BRICS neither competes with nor opposes anyone
BRICS is not competing with anyone and does not oppose anyone, but the establishment of a multipolar world order has irreconcilable adversaries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the bloc's summit.
“I would like to note that this objective process of establishing a new world order still has irreconcilable adversaries seeking to slow down this process, he added.
These adversaries, according to the Russian head of State, “are trying to hold back the emergence of new independent centers of development and influence in the world.”
Putin noted the importance of the BRICS-Africa Outreach meeting format and the BRICS Plus dialogue.
“It is very important and provides a good opportunity for substantive discussion of pressing issues of mutually beneficial cooperation with the countries that largely share the approaches of the five-member States, meaning the countries that share our views,” the Russian president stated.
Kazakhstan wants to contribute to BRICS development
President Kasim-Yomart Tokayev said on Thursday that Kazakhstan wants to contribute to the development of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) as a member State.
“Kazakhstan aspires to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with the BRICS countries and the African Union, and would like to make its contribution as a member State,” Tokayev said at the BRICS Plus Forum, held in the context of the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa.
Tokayev expressed his firm belief that the BRICS “should intensify collective efforts to ensure global security and sustained and inclusive development.”
Argentina praises BRICS' role in multilateral cooperation
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández celebrated on Thursday his country’s inclusion in BRICS, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa; praising its role in boosting multilateral cooperation.
In a video message to the 15th BRICS Summit, the president assured to be very glad to share such space that strengthens and creates new bridges between countries and regions in a context demanding to encourage more instances of political dialogue.
“This is a long-standing desire we are beginning to realize today. We are honored to join this group of nations that respect their differences, seek to identify common denominators, and look for influencing the global order in an unstable and unequal world,” Fernandez pointed out.
“We will be the second Latin American country to join BRICS and the first Spanish-speaking country. We will continue to broaden our efforts to give new impetus to South-South partnerships, the head of State added.
Fernández urged “to favor more balanced trade exchanges that do not deepen asymmetries, and to bolster investments and scientific-technological cooperation.”
The president concluded with special thanks to his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, for bringing to this forum the problems faced by Argentina and for his steady support.
Venezuelan legislator values the BRICS' respect for other peoples
Caracas.- The countries of the BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) base their relations on cooperation, Venezuelan legislator Jesús Faría assured today.
The bloc is based on respect for the self-determination of each one of the nations, and against the great benefits of the world powers, the member of the Permanent Commission of Economy, Finance, and Development of the Assembly declared to Venezolana de Televisión National.
The BRICS are against those States that enjoy privileges –he added- and the multilateral organisms whose decisions are based on hegemonic interests and whims.
According to the parliamentarian, this generates wars and confrontations on the planet, and increases and deepens inequities, because poor countries are increasingly so, “if compared to Western powers, in a world built on unequal foundations.”
The BRICS bloc -according to Faría- is also based “on the fact that no power imposes its interests on other nations, as the United States does with Venezuela, through unilateral coercive measures that threaten the lives of the people.”
With information from Prensa Latina
