A leading Chinese diplomat has called for closer ties among the BRICS nations and the formation of a common secretariat – a degree of formalization some distance from the catchy acronym that originally bracketed them together.
Zhou Xiaoming, who is Minister Counsellor Economic & Commercial at the Chinese embassy in the UK and who has held senior positions in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, among other places, told Emerging Markets: “A secretariat would make the BRICS more efficient. Most, if not all, international organizations have a secretariat to look after the business when leaders are busy with other things.”
Zhou was speaking at a London conference called innovaBRICS, in which representatives of several constituent nations called for greater cooperation, particularly as all five (if South Africa is counted) have run into considerable headwinds around growth models, governance, deficits, government interference or a combination of several of them.
“Economic cycles will go through their rhythms, but I’m confident the BRICS countries, and certainty the BRICS formation, has a lot to offer both the members of BRICS and the globe as well,” said Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Finance of South Africa.
A mooted new development bank for the BRICS countries “hopefully comes into place when the leaders meet in Brazil next year in March,” alongside a new contingency reserve the five countries are working on in order to absorb financial shocks in future, Gordhan added.
Zhou said that BRICS ministers in foreign affairs, trade, finance and agriculture, as well as central bank governors, now met regularly. “BRICS has evolved into a decision-making body,” he said.
Roberto Jaguaribe, Brazilian Ambassador to the UK and Northern Ireland, and a participant in early BRICS talks, noted the increasing political heft of the group but denied that there was any intention to be confrontational with that power.
“Many people believe the BRICS were generated to create a certain opposition to the G7,” he said. “That was never the intention.”
He commented, though, that it had become common for meetings to take place between, for example, the BRICS Ministers collectively and the US Secretary of the Treasury. Jaguaribe called for common standards of governance among the five nations, arguing this was the greatest need for convergence.