We should work together to oppose trade protectionism: BRICS

The BRICS nations have asked the international community to work together to oppose trade protectionism and create an equitable and transparent global trade and investment environment amid the rise of "inward- looking" tendencies and anti-globalisation thinking.
"The global trade and investment are in stagnation and the multilateral trade system is being affected. Economic globalisation has suffered setbacks and we have witnessed the rise of inward-looking and protectionist tendencies in some countries' policies and the growth of 'anti-globalisation' thinking,"China's Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Jieyi said in his address to the High-level Sustainable Development Goals Financing Lab on behalf of the BRICS Group.

The BRICS nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
He said there is a need to improve the global economic governance and create an enabling international environment for development.
"We should work together to create an equitable, open and transparent international trade and investment environment, oppose trade protectionism and push for an early completion of the Doha Round negotiation of the WTO (World Trade Organisation," he said here yesterday.
China, which assumed the BRICS presidency for 2017, said developed countries should bear the primary responsibility in financing for development, honour their ODA (Official Development Assistance) commitments, fulfill the commitments under Technology Facilitation Mechanism, help developing countries with capacity building and offer further debt reduction and market access to developing countries.

"As North-South cooperation is the main channel of development financing, the international community must uphold the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" (CBDR) and push North-South cooperation to continue to play its key role.

"Attention should be given to the alignment of ODA with the countries' situations and actual needs of developing countries in order to better meet their development concerns," Jieyi said.
"Each country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development. South-South cooperation is not a substitute to North-South cooperation, but an expression of solidarity among peoples and countries of the South, based on their shared experiences and objectives," he said.

"The BRICS group also called for expediting the reform of the international financial system, increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries, and create a stable economic environment and a fair regulatory environment for countries to work together for development and share in the fruits.
"Major economies need to strengthen macro-economic policy coordination, reinforce the regulation of the international financial market and build a stable, pluralistic and risk- resilient international monetary system so as to avoid systemic risks caused by drastic policy fluctuations which will produce negative spill-over effects on developing countries," Jieyi said.
He added that international cooperation for development is faced with the daunting challenges of declining political will, dwindling resources and fragmentation of efforts.

However financing for development is the key to the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
"The international community needs to take a strategic and long-term view of financing for development and actively advance international cooperation in this area at the national, regional and international levels based on renewed and enhanced global partnership for sustainable development, to mobilise adequate resources for the realisation of sustainable development by all countries, especially developing countries," he said.
He also underlined the need to strengthen political will and meaningfully implement the the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.