Johannesburg - Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRICS) are a significant collection of prominent rising markets and developing nations, and South Africa is prepared to throw out the red carpet for the world as the country holds the 15th BRICS Summit in Sandton.
Together, the BRICS countries represent about 42% of the world’s population, 27% of global GDP, and about 20% of international trade.
GCIS Deputy Director-General Michael Currin said they had supported various ministerial meetings held to precede BRICS across all provinces.
He said the Minister in the Presidency hosted a Friends of BRICS National Security Advisers Meeting with her BRICS Security counterparts in Sandton on July 24.
The Friends of BRICS is a combination of countries that have expressed an interest in joining BRICS, those who chair prominent institutions of the Global South, and those invited as per the chair’s prerogative and henceforth as per the consensus reached between the host and fellow BRICS members.
The Friends of BRICS countries who attended this meeting were Belarus, Burundi, Cuba, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Currin said the Cabinet encouraged BRICS meetings to be held in several towns and cities so that guests have a wide range of experiences of the country.
He said it was also important that the tangible economic benefits of hosting BRICS partners were experienced in a variety of communities.
He said leading up to the summit, the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition and the BRICS Business Council will be hosting a content-rich BRICS Business Programme from August 19 to 23, which seeks to foster economic growth, promote collaboration, attract investment, and showcase opportunities within South Africa, Africa, and BRICS countries.
Currin said all the BRICS Business Councils were bringing large business delegations to South Africa.
Currin said they were confident that they would leave 2023 having strengthened the BRICS partnership and having delivered benefits to the people of South Africa, BRICS, Africa, and the Global South.
“We call on South Africans to continue to extend the warmest of South African welcomes to the many official delegates, businesspeople, media, and civil society who will arrive from various parts of the continent and the world shortly for the summit,” Currin said.
The Star