South Africa is all set to host the 15th BRICS Summit. The bloc of major emerging economies derives its name (BRICS) from its five member nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The summit, scheduled from August 22-24 in Johannesburg, will be the first in-person meeting since 2019. This year's theme is "BRICS and Africa". The group, accounting for 40 per cent of the global population and 26 per cent of the global economy, aims to challenge the economic domination of the West.
So, who is attending and what is the agenda? Let's take a closer look.
BRICS Summit 2023: Who's attending?
According to reports, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are expected to mark their presence in Johannesburg.
Confirming Xi's visit, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement, "At the invitation of President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and pay a state visit to South Africa from 21 to 24 August".
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Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit virtually due to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against him over Moscow's Ukraine invasion, reported Associated Press (AP).
According to news agency Reuters, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will represent Putin in Johannesburg.
A total of 69 countries have been invited to the next week's BRICS summit, including all African nations, reported Al Jazeera.
Invitations were also sent to leaders of Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean countries, Reuters reported citing South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor.
Last week, Pandor said that BRICS nations wanted to show "global leadership in addressing the needs … of the majority of the world, namely … development and inclusion of the Global South in multilateral systems".
BRICS expansion
Over 40 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Argentina, Indonesia, Algeria, Egypt and Ethiopia, have expressed interest in joining the BRICS group, according to a Reuters report.
The discussions on expanding the bloc are likely to be one of the top agendas of the summit.
However, BRICS leaders have differing opinions about incorporating other members as well as on the admission criteria, the report added.
China supports the group's expansion. China's foreign ministry told Reuters it "supports progress in expanding membership and welcomes more like-minded partners to join the 'BRICS family' at an early date."
When China hosted Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Beijing in July, the Asian nation said in a joint statement that it "welcomes Algeria's positive intention to join BRICS, and supports Algeria's efforts to achieve this goal", noted news agency AFP.
Meanwhile, Russia, which is facing diplomatic isolation over the Ukraine war, has also backed the expansion. However, India is uncertain about it. New Delhi's biggest concern is that BRICS should not become a "China-centric" bloc, reported Hindustan Times (HT).
Earlier this month, Brazil's da Silva said he favours more countries joining the BRICS group.
"Possibly, in this meeting, we can already consensually decide which new countries can join BRICS," Lula was quoted as saying by AP.
"I am of the opinion that as many countries want to enter, if they are in compliance with the rules we are establishing, we will accept the countries' entrance," he added.
Why other countries want to join BRICS?
Wang Youming, director of the department for developing countries studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told Beijing-based state-run news channel CGTN, "Many countries want to join the BRICS system, as it can help establish an international power system commensurate with their economic size and break the imbalance in the current global governance system".
"Different from the exclusive club, the Group of Seven, or the G7, the BRICS spirit features mutual respect and understanding, equality, solidarity, openness, inclusiveness and consensus, which is also one of the reasons many countries want to join the mechanism," he added.
Why NBD is important to BRICS 2023?
The New Development Bank (NDB), commonly known as the BRICS bank, was set up in 2015 as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
However, Western sanctions imposed on member Russia have affected the bloc's Shanghai-based bank.
A Bloomberg report said that NDB'S president Dilma Rousseff will inform the assembly next week of steps to diversify its funding sources.
The grouping could also resume talks on reducing the dollar's dominance in payments, it added.
"Local currency use will help de-risk the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations", South Africa's finance minister Enoch Godongwana said.
The dollar has strengthened against emerging market currencies in the aftermath of Russia's Ukraine war and the Federal Reserve's move to boost interest rates to combat inflation early last year.
Meanwhile, a senior BRICS diplomat said that the bloc leaders would not raise the issue of a common BRICS currency during the summit, reported Reuters.
"Proposals to be considered include increasing the use of members' national currencies to trade and setting up a common payments system. A goal to create a common currency is viewed as a longer-term project," according to Bloomberg.
Many BRICS members, including India, have started settling bilateral trade deals in local currencies.
BRICS Summit to help strengthen economic ties
The BRICS summit can see leaders deliberating on improving economic cooperation in several sectors, including energy, infrastructure and digital economy.
Citing data from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Bloomberg reported that trade between BRICS members increased 56 per cent to $422 billion over the past five years
(With agency input)