The 16th BRICS Summit opens today in the Russian city of Kazan BRICS. The three-day event will be attended by the heads of state of the countries participating in the international association, as well as other prominent politicians. Important negotiations and agreements are planned.
This year saw a second expansion of the organization: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa were joined by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Ethiopia, and the status of Saudi Arabia is due to be clarified these days.
„BRICS is attracting more and more supporters and like-minded countries - countries that share the basic principles underlying its activities,” Vladimir Putin said in January when Russia took over the presidency. The cornerstones are “sovereign equality, respect for the choice of one's own development path, mutual respect of interests, openness, consensus, desire to form a multipolar world order and a fair model of the global financial and trade system, search for collective solutions of the most the pressing problems of our time.”
„Joint work in the BRICS to accelerate socio-economic growth and ensure sustainable development brings concrete, tangible results,” Putin emphasized at the BRICS business forum on October 18.
The total GDP is more than 60 trillion dollars, the share in the world GDP is 37.4% (for the G-7 it is 29.3). BRICS represents about a quarter of world exports of goods, emphasizes RIA Novosti.
Azerbaijan, Algeria, Malaysia, Syria, Thailand and "many others - three dozen countries" - want to join BRICS, and some have already sent official applications.
Among them is Belarus, which is a member of the union state with Russia. Turkey, despite its NATO membership, does not intend to give up its multi-vector policy. Moscow has already confirmed that Ankara's request has been received.
Serbia sees in BRICS a "full alternative to the EU".
"Increasing the number of participants should not affect efficiency, but the doors are open," Putin pointed out.
The Kazan summit will be held in two stages. The first, on October 22 and 23, is the meeting of BRICS members. Others will join the event over the next two days.
Invitations have been sent to 38 countries. The arrival of representatives of 32 countries, as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has been confirmed.
Combined BRICS Plus/Outreach meetings are also held. The motto is: “BRICS and the Global South: Building a Better World Together”.
„This format of communication is very important”, noted Putin, „It provides a good opportunity for substantial discussion of current issues of mutually beneficial cooperation with those countries that largely share the approaches of the five, that is, our like-minded people”.
Putin plans to hold at least twenty bilateral meetings. In particular with the President of China Xi Jinping, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The signing of a "historic agreement" for a strategic partnership with Iran.
The work in Kazan will continue even after the meeting: on October 27-28 there will be a meeting of the heads of the statistical offices of the BRICS countries. The heads of other relevant ministries already met in the autumn in Tatarstan and in Moscow.