UAE keen to strengthen relations in Brics role, minister says

The UAE can play a vital role in south-to-south economic co-operation as part of the expanded bloc of Brics countries, boosting trade and improving relations among nations, Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq has said.

The Arab world’s second-largest economy is a hub of the south-to-south corridor, Mr bin Touq told a panel discussion at the World

Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

“I think that is something where the UAE can play a role in the engagement on the global level when it comes to Brics,” Mr bin Touq said.

“This engagement brings a lot of investment as well.”

Although the world is facing fragmentation and heightened economic uncertainty, the UAE’s move to join the bloc is driven by geo-economic considerations, he added.

“Brics is not a political kind of stance and neither we are in a cold war environment to [decide whether to] join or not to join,” Mr bin Touq said.

“This is something we need to clear out on this stage, here and right now.

“It is opportunities, it is trade, it is economic drivers.”

Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, Egypt, Iran and Ethiopia, joined the Brics bloc on January 1, after receiving invitations to join the group in August last year. The new members take the bloc’s membership to 10, along with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

“Brics is an institution, it’s an organisation that really puts different agendas on track well”, and the UAE, as an economic centre, engages on all tracks of trade development, Mr bin Touq said.

“We are looking forward to infrastructure, we are looking forward to building bridges between nations and friends and colleagues around the Brics institution, and looking forward as well to engaging on economic policies globally.”

The expanded Brics membership accounts for about 45 per cent of the world’s population and 25 per cent of global exports. The bloc’s combined gross domestic product of about $30 trillion is equal to about 29 per cent of the world’s GDP.

The bloc has said it aims to be a voice for emerging and developing countries.