Informal meeting of BRICS leaders
An informal meeting of the heads of state and government
of BRICS member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) took
place in Hangzhou before the G20 summit on September 4, 2016. BRICS leaders
discussed the cooperation within the association and the agenda of the upcoming
G20 summit.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin sad: “We know that on the basis of the
Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership adopted at the last year’s BRICS summit
in Ufa, Russia, new large-scale joint projects are being prepared for launch,
primarily in technology, industrial cooperation, energy, and agribusiness. We
intend to expand contacts in other areas as well — in science, education,
culture, on issues of social policy, healthcare and sport. We support
cooperation between our parliaments, regions, trade unions, youth organizations
and civil societies.
Colleagues, we can see that contradictions in the world are indeed escalating.
The rise of inequality between rich and poor nations is growing, the struggle
for resources, for access to consumer markets, for control of transport arteries
is becoming more intense. This is the backgrounds for the growing potential for
conflict, as hotbeds of tension continue to multiply.
My Brazilian colleague has just mentioned the long crisis that has engulfed the
Middle East and North Africa. Civil wars instigated from abroad, the
disintegration of government structures in Iraq, Libya (which President Zuma
spoke about with concern) and Yemen, have turned this region into a place of
chaos and a foothold for international terrorism which troubles all of us,
causing an uncontrollable wave of migration.
The expansion of ISIS and extremists of all stripes united under its banners has
become a real security challenge for our countries as well, including Russia and
its southern borders.
The most dangerous situation is in Syria, which has already been discussed here.
This is why we responded to the request of the legitimate, let me stress, the
legitimate government of that country for assistance in the fight against
terrorist groups.
The Russian Aerospace Forces have dealt a heavy blow to the terrorists and their
infrastructure, and have preserved Syrian statehood, which I think is absolutely
vital.
Together with other partners we managed to enforce a ceasefire in some regions
of Syria and to launch inter-Syrian talks, because ultimately this sort of
conflict can only be resolved by political means. We are confident that
terrorist threats can only be countered by uniting the efforts of all interested
nations.
In general, the international community needs to work together to solve other
complex problems, including those facing the global economy, as Mr Modi said,
and Mr Xi Jinping as well.
Unfortunately, the world economy has still not overcome the effects of 2008–2009
financial crisis, and global growth is still uneven and very fragile. According
to forecasts, growth is unlikely to reach the pre-crisis level before 2019.
Among the limiting factors is the volatility on foreign exchange and commodity
markets, the lack of coordination of monetary policies, and the high debt levels
in developed economies.
In this regard, we support the priorities of China’s G20 presidency, aimed at
stimulating the global economy – especially through the introduction of modern
technologies.
We welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping’s intensive work to prepare this G20
Summit and its substantive package of final documents. It is encouraging that
many of them build upon the G20 agreements made in the course of our joint work
in St Petersburg, Russia.
It is important to strengthen our countries’ positions in the global financial
system. I would like to congratulate our Chinese partners on the Special Drawing
Right basket being expanded to include the Chinese yuan from October 1, 2016.
The BRICS states have already increased their total share in the IMF capital to
14.89 percent, very close to the blocking threshold of 15 percent. And they
certainly need to continue in this direction, advancing the reform of the IMF.
We need to make the BRICS Pool contingent of foreign exchange reserves and the
New Development Bank fully operational (here I totally agree with my
colleagues), to adopt the bank's strategy, to provide loans in local currencies,
and to begin financing specific projects.
We are greatly concerned about the WTO situation, which was also mentioned here.
That organization is losing credibility, losing its status as the only universal
negotiating platform for the development of global trade rules due to the
stagnation of the Doha Round. As a result, various private associations, such as
the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership, are gaining momentum; they seek to replace the WTO rather than
complement it.
We see this as a response by some of our partners to difficulties they
encountered in the course of WTO negotiations. But this is not the best way to
solve problems. The best way is to negotiate and reach a compromise.
Russia calls for the harmonization of regional economic formats, based on the
WTO rules and principles, the principles of transparency and respect for each
other's interests.
It is in this spirit that we are shaping the Eurasian Economic Union’s
activities and negotiating the linkage of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and
China’s Silk Road Economic Belt.
I am certain that in the future, all of the above will create a grand Eurasian
partnership that is open to cooperation with all interested states and
integration alliances. We hope to discuss in more detail the prospects for our
group’s development at the upcoming October 15–16 summit in Goa, India. On that
note, we wish Mr Modi and all our Indian friends success in preparing that
event.”