by Kamol Kamoltrakul
The 16th BRICS Summit was held in Kazan, southwest of Russia, on 22-24 October 2024. Hosted by Russia, this year’s event has been considered more important than ever because 35 important national leaders as well as UN Secretary General António Guterres attended. The topic of this summit was ‘BRICS and the Global South: Building a Better World Together’.
In this meeting, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were officially accepted as members while other countries wait for acceptance, including Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia.
As host, Russian President Vladamir Putin called for a new global financial system that is fair to all countries and not controlled by the West, with the US dollar used as a weapon to sanction and boycott countries that do not follow Western policies.
According to a report on RT.com, the Russian president focused his opening address on the growing role and prospects of this economic group and warned about the risks to the global economy from Western sanctions and protectionist policies. The de-dollarization initiative is probably the most concrete proposal likely to emerge from the summit that has given Putin his biggest international platform.
The summit was attended by the leaders of the nine BRICS members, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chinese premier and the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.
According to Putin, World trade and the global economy as a whole is undergoing significant changes as the centre of business activity gradually shifts towards developing markets. “A multipolar model is being formed that is launching a new wave of growth, primarily due to the countries of the Global South and East. Putin also announced Russia’s initiatives within the BRICS framework, including the formation of a grain exchange and a new investment platform.
The Russian president warned of a potential new global crisis, citing the growing debt burden in developed countries, unilateral sanctions and protectionist policies as key threats. “These factors are fragmenting international trade and foreign investment, particularly in developing nations,” Putin said.
He also pointed to high commodity price volatility and rising inflation, which are eroding incomes and corporate profits in many countries. In addition, Putin’s remarks highlighted concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions and their impact on global economic stability.
BRICS was established in 2009 at a meeting in Yegateringburg, Russia. In the first year, four countries initiated the establishment: Brazil, Russia, India and China. The following year, South Africa joined, thus forming BRICS, an acronym made up of the first letter in the names of each founding country.
BRICS was founded to challenge the old world order formed by the United Nations; World Bank; Bretton Woods Financial System; IMF and International Money Transfer System, or SWIFT (The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). SWIFT is a system that creates unfairness, high cost, dependence while manipulated by wealthy Western countries. The G7 now sets the rules along with sanctions for political purposes and punishments. Hence, developing countries are looking for alternative paths for national development that do not follow the global capitalist system.
Members of the United Nations who are not one of the five founding members of the Security Council are at a disadvantage as they lack the opportunity to participate in discussions that affect their trade as well as access to the global financial system. Hence, as Putin says, a new world order that is equal, where every voice is heard, is necessary so all can develop together without being left behind.
The BRICS 16th summit calls for all countries to join BRICS, a new organization to organize a new world order that is fair, peaceful and free from war. This was the vision behind the establishment of BRICS in 2009.
BRICS has the following major goals:
1. Promote, develop and expand economic and trade cooperation away from Western domination
2. Promote and develop world peace and stability; cooperate in combating terrorism, separatism, human trafficking and solving border conflicts through war
3. Promote cultural exchange between countries
4. Promote the exchange, transfer and joint development of technology
5. Promote and support sustainable development
6. Promote and support cooperation among developing countries (South-South Cooperation)
BRICS’s policies include:
- To promote and create a new multi-polar world political and trade system instead of NATO, the UN, the World Bank, the WTO and the IMF
- To create a new world financial system using a digital currency or a gold-backed BRICS currency to be used as money to trade oil, goods and services, pay debts and use as an international reserve instead of the US dollar
- To establish an international development bank to lend to developing countries instead of the World Bank o support small countries to play an equal role in world politics with superpowers and receive fairness.
- To create a new forum for negotiating world security issues instead of the UN in the areas of terrorism, separatism, human trafficking, drug trafficking, global warming, natural disasters and sustainable agriculture
Important 2023 BRICS data
1. 33% of the world's GDP
2. 46% of the world’s population
3. 42% of the world’s land area
4. 46% of the world’s oil population
5. 25% of the world’s trade
6. Combined standing armed forces of 6.7 million members.
President Putin said in his closing speech that what he wanted was a new world order that was democratic. He said that the wealthy countries had a monopoly on wealth, goods and even the ideological interpretation of the definitions of human rights, democracy and global warming. He went on to say that the BRICS countries account for 45 percent of the world's population and 35 percent of the world's economic output, so they have enough power to unite against the wealthy West. Putin said that the dollar is being used as a weapon, and he wants to create a new world financial system that is not dependent on the dollar and the SWIFT international money transfer system, but instead use a new investment platform.
President Qi Jinping of China stated that the BRICS alliance needs to recreate a new world order where all countries are equal, fair, open, transparent and inclusive. The alliance will increase participation of developing countries, giving them more decision-making power. The BRICS alliance needs to cooperate to ensure the stability of the new system and maximize the influence of BRICS with the changes in the future world.
Indian President Modi agreed with the policy framework and goals of BRICS.
Brazilian President Lula said through a representative that he agreed with the creation of an innovative new world financial system that reduces the costs that developing countries have to pay to the West, but not abolish the national monetary system.
In the closing statement of the 16th BRICS summit, it was stated that the BRICS alliance does not agree with the old world order that they see as unequal, unfair and too much under Western control. There is a need to create a new international financial system that is efficient, low cost, fast, transparent, inclusive of developing countries and offers free access to all markets.
BRICS members are deeply concerned by Israel's military attacks on innocent people, mostly women and children, which have killed and left more than 100,000 missing and injured in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Lebanon. They call for an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities and release of all political prisoners.
In the Bangkok Post on 27 October 2024, Poramet Tangsathaporn explained the Thai position presented by Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who represented Thailand at the BRICS summit. He said Thailand hoped to join BRICS in August next year. It could contribute as a bridge to help revive a spirit of cooperation and revise the global system to be more just and equitable. Furthermore, Thailand will also advocate strengthening multilateralism among BRICS members.
The foreign minister sees the critical importance of this regional framework in bolstering a spirit of cooperation based on mutual trust and respect and that Thailand and BRICS could collaborate to revise the global system to work for all nations. As the international community works towards a more just and equitable world, he pointed out the conversation should include the necessity of revisiting the current state of international financial architecture and achieve a balanced tone.
"The international financial system for developing countries should be responsive and help provide social safety, crisis management, sustainable growth, greater peace and prosperity for all," he said.
As such, Foreign Minister Maris said Thailand believes BRICS could be a voice for developing and emerging economies and serve as a force to shift the dynamics of financial governance to favour all nations.
Learning from the previous painful experience of the Asian financial crisis, Thailand proposed that synergies be built across various international platforms to advance this reform agenda. Mr Maris said he also looked forward to the possibility of BRICS members participating in the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), which Thailand will chair next year.
