Brics leaders agree to fight unilateralism and protectionism

Brics leaders have signed a declaration supporting an open and inclusive multilateral trading system under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed at their summit underway in South Africa to fight unilateralism and protectionism in the wake of tariff threats by US President Donald Trump.

“We reaffirm the centrality of the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system, as embodied in the World Trade Organisation, that promotes a predictable trade environment and the centrality of the WTO,” the declaration signed by the five leaders said .

The leaders said: “We recognise that the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges. We underscore the importance of an open world economy.”

They called on all WTO members to abide by WTO rules.

The meeting of Brics leaders is the first since the US administration launched a push to rebalance trade multilateralism that Trump has deemed unfair.

Earlier during the proceedings, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who leads the world’s second-biggest economy, called for dialogue to settle disputes on global trade, underlining remarks he made at the opening of the summit in Johannesburg.

‘Reject Protectionism’
“We must work together … to safeguard the rule-based multilateral trading regime, promote trade and investment, globalisation and facilitation, and reject protectionism outright,” Xi had said, pointing out that there would be no winner in a global trade war.

More trade
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for more trade within the Brics bloc while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the bloc’s members to harness technology to develop their economies.

“We should work to reduce administrative barriers to stimulate trade between our countries,” Putin said.

Closer partnerships
He expressed the hope that closer partnerships between the group’s members in the digital economy would bring further development.

Putin also canvassed support for the creation of regional centres for a Brics Bank and said he would like to discuss the possibility of having an office in Russia.

The Russian leader told the gathering that ”the fourth industrial revolution affects all developing nations and the task now is to stimulate investment.’‘

Host president Cyril Ramaphosa had at the opening expressed the same view, urging Brics nations to look to the future and re-skill a large part of their workforce to position them for the new opportunity ‘the fourth industrial revolution’ provides for emerging economies.

Nuclear pact
At bilateral talks with Putin on the sidelines of the Brics summit, Ramaphosa committed to an energy mix that includes nuclear power.

Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko confirmed that the issue was brought up in the meeting between Ramaphosa and Putin.

“There was a discussion around how Russia can assist South Africa in terms of its nuclear capacity,” he said.

Diko said Ramaphosa noted that South Africa’s difficult economic situation would however slow down the execution of the nuclear programme.

“Our economy is very stagnant, it’s not growing at the rate that we want it to. So while we remain committed to an energy mix, which includes nuclear, South Africa is not yet at a point where it’s able to sign on the dotted line,” he said.

Former President Jacob Zuma and Putin enjoyed close relations and it was under Zuma’s watch that South Africa initiated a nuclear deal with Russia.

 

Mercy Chukwudiebere

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