BRICS poised to advance global causes

Experts take heart from leaders’ summit championing cooperation, development

A summit of leaders of the BRICS nations has set the stage for greater and more visible efforts by the grouping to support global cooperation and boost development and innovation, analysts say.

At the summit last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the five nations need to work together to uphold solidarity and global tranquillity, maintain cooperation to boost development and tackle challenges together while continuing to innovate and uphold openness and inclusivity to pool their collective wisdom.

“It is important that BRICS countries support each other on issues concerning core interests, practice true multilateralism, safeguard justice, fairness and solidarity and reject hegemony, bullying and division,” said Xi.

The calls at the event resonated with the members of the grouping: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. And observers note that these nations working together are well-positioned to contribute to multilateral cooperation.

In his remarks, Xi called on the BRICS to expand coordination and cooperation at the current crossroads of history, said Eduardo Klinger Pevida, the director of the Center for Analysis and Studies on China and Asia and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic. “The force that holds (the BRICS) together is not ideology nor politics but the identification of shared interests, especially for development.”

This is particularly important now, as the “combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis has resulted in disruptions to global industrial and supply chains, sustained hikes of commodity prices, and weaker international monetary and financial systems”, the analyst said.

Underscoring the themes Xi highlighted, multiple undertakings have been launched under the BRICS cooperation framework this year, including the Initiative on Enhancing Cooperation on Supply Chains, the Initiative on Trade and Investment

for Sustainable Development, and the Strategy on Food Security Cooperation, among others. These efforts are aimed at jointly tackling the largest challenges that lie ahead.

At the summit, Xi pointed to the value of cooperation. “It is important that BRICS countries support each other on issues concerning core interests, practice true multilateralism, safeguard justice, fairness and solidarity and reject hegemony, bullying and division,” Xi said.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez confirmed his desire for the country to join the bloc. “We are honored by the invitation to this expanded BRICS meeting. We aspire to become full members of this group of nations that already represents 42 percent of the world’s population and 24 percent of the global gross domestic product,” Fernandez said during the High-level Dialogue on Global Development on Friday.

While joining the group could take time, it would mark a significant milestone for Argentina, observers say.

Bringing nations together

Bringing communities closer together is one of the priorities for the BRICS, according to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro agrees with Xi that the way forward amid the many challenges facing the world is more cooperation.

“Brazil’s response to these challenges is not to close itself off. On the contrary, we have tried to deepen our economic integration,” he said.

For Fernando Castello-Sirvent, an economist and professor at the ESIC Business and Marketing School in Spain, Xi’s calls during the summit for greater solidarity, more cooperation, ramped-up development, innovation, openness and inclusivity are particularly timely.

“We are at the beginning of a major shock, this time because of a major food crisis. Low- and middle-income countries in Africa and the Middle East will suffer from shortages and rising prices of fertilizers, grains and other substitutes,” said Castello-Sirvent.