BRICS Business Council mid-term kicks off in Johannesburg

BBRICS Business Council mid-term meeting kicked off in Johannesburg on Wednesday with a call to strengthen ties between the five countries.

The two-day meeting started on Wednesday in Johannesburg. South African chairperson of the BRICS Business Council, Busi Mabuza said they country feel honored for leading the bloc for the past year. South Africa will officially hand over the BRICS Business chair to Brazil on Thursday.  She stated that there were robust engagements during South Africa’s tenure with progress being made in furthering the BRICS interest. She stated that they learned a lot, shared ideas and cemented the relations more between the five countries.

Mabuza said, “As South Africa prepares to hand over to Brazil, we are pleased that a wide range of initiatives has been undertaken to date that lay the basis for deeper cooperation and stronger economic ties between all of our countries.”

She stated that during South Africa’s tenure as BRICS chair saw each of the five countries make progress in various fields which benefits the bloc.  Mabuza said BRICS share of global GDP has increased from 16 percent to 22 percent. She also noted that BRICS contributes to about 50 percent of the world’s GDP growth.

Mabuza said, “The BRICS countries have enormous and increasing trade and investment opportunities. Our duty is to ensure that all relevant role players are aware of these opportunities and are able to access them in the interest of building our economies in an inclusive manner.”

Representing the chair of BRICS Business Council India, Naveen Kupar said he is happy with the achievement BRICS continues to make. Kupar thanked South Africa for deepening the relations during her tenure as the chair. He called on the BRICS countries to continue cooperating to positively contribute to inclusive growth in their countries and the world.

Kupar said, “We should continuously engage with our authorities and push for greater openness for trade and investments and elimination of trade barriers,”

Representatives of all BRICS countries addressed the meeting and pledged to work to release the dreams of the bloc. The meeting will discuss how to advance stronger relations in BRICS countries.

This week the New Development Bank (NDB) and the country’s power utility Eskom signed the loan agreement for renewable energy integration and transmission augmentation project to the tune of US$180 million. This would boost the country’s renewable energy sector.

The NDB also signed a loan agreement for greenhouse gas emissions reduction and energy sector development project for US$300 million.

The purpose BRICS Business Council mid-term meeting was to prepare for the plenary meeting of the Business Council in November, which would be held in São Paulo, Brazil.

BRICS is an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

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from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/04/04/brics-business-council-mid-term-kicks-off-in-johannesburg/