2023-08-25 00:39:18
JOHANNESBURG: The highly anticipated Brics expansion began on Thursday following current members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed to officially invite Saudi Arabia and five others emerging economies to join the bloc.
“We have reached consensus on the first phase of this expansion process and other phases,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday, the final day of the 15th annual BRICS summit, held in Johannesburg.
“We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members. of the Bricks.
“We have instructed our foreign ministers to continue developing the BRICS country model and a list of potential partner countries, and to submit a report by the next summit.”
Saudi Arabia, which already has close diplomatic and trade relations with the various BRICS nations, has yet to make a decision regarding joining the bloc.
A previous expansion of the Brics came in 2010, during Brazil’s presidency of the summit, when South Africa was invited to join what was then known as Bric.
The third day of the BRICS summit began on Thursday with a press briefing during which the heads of state of the five member nations announced the results of the summit and the membership expansion plan.
“This summit has reaffirmed the importance of exchanges between the Brics people and the strengthening of mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation,” Ramaphosa said.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian President, said: “Our diversity strengthens the struggle for a new international order.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at the summit, while Chinese President Xi Jinping listens (AN Photo, Abdel Rahmane Chalhoub).
“Today, the gross domestic product of the Brics represents 37% of the world’s GDP in terms of purchasing power and 46% in terms of world population.
“The relevance of the Brics is confirmed by the growing interest that other countries are showing to join our group.”
The group will remain open to membership applications from other potential members, and membership criteria will be defined, he added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “On the BRICS 15th anniversary, we have taken the important step to expand them. I am convinced that together with these countries we will be able to inject new momentum and energy into our cooperation.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the meeting on August 24, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov looks on (AN Photo, Abdel Rahmane Chalhoub).
The first Brics summit was held in June 2009. This year’s gathering also marked the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Brics Business Council.
Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, said the future was bright for the BRICS nations and the expansion would bring renewed “vigor” to their cooperation mechanisms.
“The leaders of the five countries have unanimously decided to invite Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran and Ethiopia to join the Brics family as members officials, which strengthens the force of peace and development in the world,” he said.
“China commends these countries and greatly appreciates the efforts made by our President, South Africa, and President, Ramaphosa. This increase in membership is historic.”
He said it showed the members’ determination to pursue unity and cooperation with the broader group of developing nations and added, “It responds to the common interests of emerging and developing countries.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said members would continue to work to “expand the influence of the Brics around the world.”
The Importance of GCC
On Tuesday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington doesn’t see “the Brics turning into some kind of geopolitical rival to the United States or anyone else.”
“We will continue to work on the strong positive relations we have with Brazil, India and South Africa, we will continue to manage our relations with China and we will continue to push back aggression from Russia. But from our point of view, we do not consider this group in geopolitical terms,” he added.
On the final day of the summit, Ramaphosa said the BRICS would work to establish a fairer global financial architecture. Leaders of member countries will discuss topics such as local currencies, payment instruments and platforms, and report the results at the next summit.
Members also adopted the Johannesburg II declaration on economic policy reforms, sustainable development and the reform of multilateral systems.
The summit hosted 65 leaders from African and Southern countries for a Brics+ dialogue session, as part of the Brics Africa Outreach initiative. Ramaphosa said the objective of this session was to promote an inclusive dialogue on key issues affecting developing economies.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhane was one of the speakers at the session. He said Saudi Arabia was working to stabilize energy markets and he had good strategic relations with BRICS members.
“The Kingdom enjoys strong friendship, trade relations and strategic partnerships with all the countries in the group,” he said.
Prince Faisal added that Saudi Arabia was making progress in its efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and had set ambitious goals for its relations with BRICS members.
“Saudi Arabia intends to be the Brics group’s biggest trading partner in the Middle East,” he said.
“Total bilateral trade with the countries of the group exceeded 160 billion dollars (1 US dollar = 0.93 euro) in 2022, which shows a strong relationship with the group, and we look forward to developing this cooperation, that creates new development opportunities that elevate our relationships to a hoped-for ambition.”
The Kingdom is keen to live up to its responsibilities to develop and support international cooperation within the BRICS, he said.
“We hope that this summit will pave the way for more effective partnership and progress between our countries, and that our efforts will help expand areas of cooperation so as to maximize common interests and strengthen international peace and cooperation. »
In response to the announcement of the Brics’ expansion plans, Prince Faisal told Al-Arabiya news outlet that the Kingdom appreciates the invitation to join the group, will study the details and “take the appropriate decision”.
The group is “a beneficial and important channel” for strengthening economic cooperation, he added.
In a message posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Jasem Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, sent his sincere congratulations to the leaders and people of the United Arab Emirates and of Saudi Arabia for their invitation to join the Brics.
He described this development as an important indication of the importance and strength of the GCC’s decisions.
During the presentation of the summit’s final declaration, Ramaphosa said that this historic moment for the BRICS was only the first phase of their expansion plans, and that he hoped that the invited nations would become members by the time. January 2024.
The foreign ministers of the member states have been instructed to further develop the model of the BRICS countries. A list of potential partner countries will be presented at next year’s summit, to be held in Kazan, Russia.
This text is the translation of an article published on Arabnews.com
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