BRICS Plus: Revitalizing global economic integration

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Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness will join a BRICS Plus Initiative session with the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the five BRICS countries, on Friday on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

Experts believe the BRICS Plus mechanism can potentially revitalize regional and global economic integration in the context of rising unilateralism and protectionism among developed countries.

Delegates take pictures in front of a billboard outside the BRICS summit venue in Johannesburg, July 25, 2018. /VCG Photo

Why are Argentina, Turkey and Jamaica invited?

BRICS Plus, initiated by China at last year's BRICS summit in Xiamen, is a dialogue between BRICS countries and other emerging markets and developing countries. It aims at widening the BRICS "circle of friends" and turning the partnership into the most important platform for South-South cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in March 2017 when announcing the mechanism.

Leaders of Egypt, Guinea, Mexico, Tajikistan and Thailand attended the first BRICS Plus meeting in east China as representatives of non-BRICS developing countries.

Sept. 5, 2017: Chinese President Xi Jinping chairs the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries (BRICS Plus meeting) in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province. /Xinhua Photo

This year, Argentine, Turkish and Jamaican leaders will take part in the meeting under the theme of "BRICS Plus: Securing Sustainable and Inclusive Growth for the Prosperity of the Global South."

According to the official website of the BRICS Johannesburg summit, South Africa sent invitations to the leaders of "countries representing Regional Economic Communities in the Global South and the United Nations."

Argentina is the chair of the Group of 20 (G20) and an influential member of the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), Turkey is the chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and Jamaica is the chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the website explains.

In fact, invitations were also sent to leaders of Indonesia and Egypt, as well as to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, but their names are not on the final list of Friday's meeting.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech titled "Keeping Abreast of the Trend of the Times to Achieve Common Development" at the BRICS Business Forum in Johannesburg, July 25, 2018. /Xinhua Photo

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'A unique opportunity' for world economy

The concept of BRICS Plus is to "open a gateway to other countries and regions that are willing to connect with the bloc" and promote economic integration to "protect the interests of developing countries," according to a recent Global Times commentary written by He Wenping, a senior research fellow at the Charhar Institute in China, and Egyptian economist Hisham Abu Bakr Metwally.

The BRICS Plus Initiative can connect the world's largest developing economies with other countries in their regions, the article noted.

Yaroslav Lissovolik, program director of Moscow-based think tank Valdai Discussion Club, believes the initiative represents efforts by the leading developing economies to revitalize regional integration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a closed session meeting during the 10th BRICS summit, July 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

"Against the backdrop of waning impulses for integration in the developed world, the largest developing economies are forging ahead with new initiatives directed at revitalizing regional integration," Lissovolik wrote in an article titled "BRICS Plus: Alternative Globalization in the Making?" for the official website of the World Economic Forum in January.

He hailed the BRICS Plus Initiative as "one of the first truly global undertakings of the developing world in shaping a new, more balanced economic order."

By creating a platform for "forging regional and bilateral alliances across continents," BRICS economies can play a leading role in "bringing together the regional integration blocks," he added.

The Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg, South Africa, is the venue of the 10th BRICS summit. /VCG Photo

The author further suggested building "BRICS Plus Plus" frameworks to promote cooperation between the BRICS Plus circle and the developed world.

The view is shared by B. B. L. Madhukar, director general of New Delhi-based BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Praising the BRICS Plus mechanism as a "definite milestone," he told CGTN that the idea needs to be further expanded with the formation of a "BRICS Friends Club," which may "enable regional powers to cooperate with BRICS on economic, financial and political issues."

In Lissovolik's words, "The emergence of BRICS offers the world economy a unique opportunity to reload the international integration process and to make it truly global, non-discriminatory and more compliant with the global rules of the WTO."

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