President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday morning arrived in Kazan, the Russian Federation, to lead South Africa’s participation in the 16th BRICS Summit.
The summit is held from Tuesday until Thursday under the theme: “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security”.
Earlier on Tuesday, IOL reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping had left Beijing for the summit, at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation.
The Kazan gathering will also see the presence of the newly expanded version of the economic bloc, sometimes referred to as BRICS+ which is now made up of nations including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as previous members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
On Tuesday, Ramaphosa was scheduled to commence his programme with a bilateral meeting with his host, Putin.
“The meeting will present an opportunity for President Ramaphosa to communicate priorities of the seventh administration, highlight the strategic importance of the Russian Federation to South Africa, and to exchange views with the host president on issues of mutual interest,” said Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.
Ramaphosa will also hold several bilateral meetings with different leaders attending the BRICS Summit, in a bid to strengthen political and economic relations in line with South Africa's national interests and foreign policy priorities.
On Tuesday evening, Magwenya said Ramaphosa will attend the “Welcome Cultural Ceremony for BRICS Leaders” hosted by the chairperson of BRICS 2024 - Putin.
On Wednesday, Ramaphosa will deliver the country statement during the BRICS plenary session.
He will also attend the welcoming ceremony for heads of delegations of BRICS States, invited countries and international organisations.
“President Ramaphosa will deliver the second country statement on (Thursday) during the BRICS Summit Outreach/BRICS Plus session held under the theme “BRICS and Global South: building a better world together”. The aim of the dialogue is to enhance BRICS ties with leading developing economies,” said Magwenya.
He said BRICS plays an important role in a multipolar world, championing multilateralism, mutually beneficial cooperation and sustainable development.
“A founding value of BRICS is the shared vision of the urgent need to restructure global political, economic and financial governance to be more fair, just and representative. The expanded BRICS now covers 43% of the world's population, 32% of the world's land area, around 35% of global GDP and 20% of world exports and provides opportunities to develop mutually beneficial cooperation that contributes to the sustainable growth and development of South Africa,” said Magwenya.
The leaders of Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates will meet for the first time since new members were invited to join BRICS during the Johannesburg II BRICS Summit of August 23,2023.
During the summit, Magwenya said BRICS leaders will reflect on the status of mutually beneficial BRICS cooperation, regional and global economic and political developments as well as global governance reform.
They will also consider reports requested during the Johannesburg II BRICS Summit, including a report by BRICS Foreign Ministers on the further development of the BRICS partner country model and prospective candidates, and a report by BRICS finance ministers on the consideration of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms.
The summit will also hear reports from the New Development Bank, BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism, BRICS Business Council and BRICS Women’s Business Alliance.
During his visit, President Ramaphosa is supported by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola; Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga; Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, and Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau.
IOL