CAPE TOWN - President Jacob Zuma will be travelling to China to attend the 9th BRICS summit held in Xiamen City.
The summit theme is the BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future will take place during the 7th and 9th September.
South Africa has made significant progress since they joined the BRICS in 2011 and since then has strengthened its cooperative mechanism for institutional development, seen the establishment of the National Development Bank and the newly launched Africa Regional Centre.
BRICS should help expand the collaboration for common development, reinforce global governance to meet problems, execute exchanges with people to support BRICS cooperation and build partnerships.
Issues of common concern are global conflict, fighting against terrorism and rebuilding the international system of governance like the democratisation of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods Institutions. The leaders will also meet with the BRICS Business Council and the New Development Bank President.
The Xiamen Declaration and Action Plan, a plan to create new partnership through ocean cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, and other new proposals will be explored.
BRICS leaders will also talk with emerging markets and developing countries like Egypt, Mexico and Thailand. They will focus on on the needs of the global south concerning globalisation and future development.
BRICS countries economic ties are being made stronger through the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership that was put in place in 2015 and agreements supporting the partnership will be signed.
The intra-BRICS in total amounted to R3.06 trillion and South Africa’s exports to BRICS increased by 123 billion in 2011 to R138.2 billion in 2016 and imports from BRICS countries also increased from R115 billion to R230 billion.
The President will be accompanied by many ministers such as the Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba and the. Minister of Small Business Development; Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi.