BRICS+ Forum opens the door to integrate more countries

Boiler. The group of countries that make up the BRICS+ have managed to grow their influence beyond economic issues. At its sixteenth summit meeting, which begins this Tuesday, 40 countries will be represented, reported the Russian government, host of the meeting.

With conflicts in various parts of the world and the presidential election in the United States in two weeks, the agenda is marked by the issues of security, economy and strengthening multilateralism, according to the organizers.

The BRICS+ is very relevant todayexplains Sarang Shidore, director of the Global South Program at the Quincy Institute in Washington.

Its importance lies in the fact that the world order is in a moment of enormous change. And the most powerful countries, particularly the United States, They have done a poor job of solving global problemsexplained the specialist to The Day.

The members of the group were initially Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. They were joined by Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia participates without being a formal member. At the summit that begins today, the door will be opened to a possible expansion, through the creation of a new category of partner statesaccording to the Russian government. In a press release it was announced that representatives from 40 nations will attend, in addition to former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank (the BRICS+ bank).

This group is also seen as an attempt by a group of nations to solve some global problems, at a time when there are two wars underway in two key regions: Europe and the Middle East, Sarang Shidore said. “But these states are diverse and are made up of nations from the global South and what I have called the ‘global East’ (Russia and China). The two components have different interests in general terms, but they have forged a coalition to focus on those areas they have in common,” he points out.

It is not, in his opinion, a security group and it never will be. But by addressing issues such as financing for development and alternative currencies to the dollar – one of the topics on which a position is expected here – it seeks to fill large gaps in global governance and also guarantee greater economic security for its members, he considers. .

The two most populous countries on Earth are now part of the BRICS+: India and China, which concentrate more than a third of the global population. Its five initial members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are also part of the Group of 20, where they coincide with the United States, the European Union and Japan.

The Russian presidency of the BRICS+ proposed as one of its objectives to strengthen multilateralism for effective global development and security. The Kazan summit continues the agenda of previous meetings – in 2023, in South Africa, the idea of ​​a currency for transactions between members was expressed.

Gradual progress is expected in creating alternative monetary mechanisms effectively aimed at reducing the dominance of the dollar in global trade, Shidore mentioned.