China to give $80m in funding to Brics
CHINA will give 500 million yuan ($76.4 million) for a Brics economic and technology co-operation plan, and another $4 million for projects at the Brics countries’ New Development Bank, Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday. The newly announced $80 million funding plan pales in comparison to China’s $124 billion pledge earlier in May in a push for Xi’s own Belt and Road initiative, which aims to expand links between Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond as a new way to boost global development. The announcement came amid questions over the relevance of BRICS and China’s commitment to its New Development Bank (NDB) in light of the Belt and Road initiative and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Xi said Brics should increase co-operation in sectors such as trade and investment, monetary and finance, and sustainable development.
BRICS countries should play a greater role in world affairs and give greater attention to the sustainable growth of the world economy and infrastructure development, particularly in developing countries, said a senior South African researcher.
Infrastructure development is unquestionably a key factor in boosting the world economy, said Oren Dayan, head of the Marketing Division at the School of Economics and Business Science, University of the Witwatersrand.
“Sustainable infrastructure development is definitely a key factor in improving the world economy,” he said in a recent interview with Xinhua. A successful issuing of green bonds in China reinforced the world economy, he said.
However, in order to make this process more efficient, Brics countries should also collaborate with other economies and let them benefit from Brics trade and obtain their financial support, Dayan said.
Brics should not only focus on their own success factors, but also open up to the rest of the world as a major economic force, said Dayan.
He said co-operation in Brics bodes well for the world economy, and the world needs Brics and vice versa.
Dayan said the importance of Brics should not be belittled, despite the fact that all its member countries have domestic challenges. He urged Brics
countries to take advantage of the summit to work out measures to cement collaboration and support one another.
The researcher pointed out the economic slowdown in some Brics countries, as well as challenges from the devaluation of the Chinese yuan and the downgrade of Brazil’s sovereign rating by Standard & Poor’s.
Russia was reportedly suffering too and South Africa saw its own economic slowdown as a result of labour issues, rising costs and lowering commodity prices, Dayan added.
“Therefore, I would like to
see a much closer collaboration among the countries as a result of the summit, which will offer a fundamental opportunity for Brics members to support one another,” he noted.
Dayan said an important challenge for Brics countries is to improve the living standards of their people. South Africa is trying to improve living standards for the next generations and this is a goal to achieve with the help of Brics, he said.
Africa is expecting to join the New Development Bank (NDB) and receive more benefits and loans to improve economic growth and the living standards of its population, said Dayan.
The NDB, formerly referred to as the Brics Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank launched in 2015 by the Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – to finance infrastructure projects, mainly in Brics member countries.
“The immediate success of the NDB has raised the confidence of its members that Brics can support projects of a large scale,” Dayan said.
African leaders expect to start with improving infrastructure investment and transportation and other productive sectors that will give the whole continent a boost, he said.