Increased trade and advancements in new technology took center stage as leaders of five countries—representing 40% of the world’s population—met in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Leaders of Brazil‚ Russia‚ India‚ China and South Africa met at a time that the Trump administration in the United States has intensified its trade war with China‚ which has affected other developing countries, Xinhua reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the BRICS bloc to increase trade partnerships between their countries. He noted that intra-BRICS trade was already at $102-billion‚ but said there was room for more growth.
“A consolidation of trading partnerships within BRICS is of greater importance. It has grown 30% and is now at $102 billion. I support initiatives of the BRICS business council in areas of e-commerce and simplifying administrative barriers to stimulate trade between our countries‚” said Putin.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the leaders to use the technological revolution to unlock the potential of trade‚ investment and economic cooperation. “We must work together at the UN‚ the G20 and WTO to safeguard a rule-based multilateral trading regime and reject protectionism outright.”
He also stressed the need for BRICS nations to be at the forefront of safeguarding global peace and security.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ who welcomed the leaders and took over the chairmanship of BRICS‚ said emerging countries needed to ensure that their people were not left behind and could take full advantage of the fourth industrial revolution.
BRICS leaders also stressed the importance of cooperation in the field of the economy‚ people-to-people exchanges‚ cultural and sporting links within the powerful bloc. They have also undertaken to use the BRICS partnership to increase trade between each other as a bulwark against increasing trade protectionism.
In the final Johannesburg declaration the leaders said the World Trade Organization should be the final arbiter when it came to trade disputes.
“We recognize that the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges. We underscore the importance of an open world economy‚ enabling all countries and people to share the benefits of globalization‚ which should be inclusive and support sustainable development and prosperity of all countries.
“We call on all WTO members to abide by WTO rules and honor their commitments in the multilateral trading system‚” the declaration reads. “We must stay committed to multilateralism and call on all parties to abide by international law and basic norms of international dialogue.”
