Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks during Business Council meeting on BRICS issues, Moscow, May 31, 2024
31 May 2024 13:42
1027-31-05-2024
I am glad to attend our regular meeting of the Business Council under the Foreign Ministry.
We have agreed to focus our today's meeting on a most pressing issue - interaction within the BRICS association.
BRICS is a unique interstate format where representatives of various countries of various religions, civilizations and cultures communicate, work and elaborate joint decisions, which are subsequently implemented. All this is done on the basis of equality, mutual respect, openness and search for a balance of interests.
The purpose of cooperation is understandable: to provide for the creation of favourable conditions for the economic growth of member countries, to resolve social problems and to develop innovatory human potential. No doubt that the interests of all member countries coincide in this matter and meet the hopes of other Global Majority countries, which has been confirmed by doubling our association membership in 2023 (from five to 10). This is also confirmed by the fact that over 30 states have applied for rapprochement with BRICS in one form or another.
A multipolar world order is being formed. This implies respect for the diversity of the world's peoples and their right to determine their own paths and models of development. And associating in this sense is arousing an ever-growing interest, respect and a desire to work together. I repeat that the doors are open to representatives of the most diverse economic and political systems and macro-regions. The only condition is that you must agree to work on the basis of the key principle of the sovereign equality of states. Our Western colleagues are just unable to do this.
Partnership development within BRICS is our strategic priority indicated in the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, approved by President of Russia Vladimir Putin in March 2023. We have been chairing BRICS since January 1.
The motto of our chairmanship is 'Strengthening multilateralism for equitable global development and security.' After five new member countries joined on January 1, the BRICS countries occupy more than 30 percent of the earth's landmass, have 45 percent of the world's population (3.6 billion people), account for more than 40 percent of all oil production and about a quarter of the world's exports of goods (meaning all goods). Their combined GDPs, calculated on a purchasing power parity basis, even if we take only the five founding countries, have long surpassed that of the Western Group of Seven. The International Monetary Fund estimated last year that the BRICS founding five nations showed a GDP of $58.9 trillion, which is 33 percent of global GDP. The G7's GDP is 5 trillion less. Accordingly, it accounts for only 30 percent of the global GDP.
The trend continues with the accession of new countries. Starting from January 1, Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia are new BRICS members. We are now preparing to implement activities under the Russian presidency in all three main areas that have developed over the 15 years of BRICS' existence: politics and security; economy and finance; and cultural, humanitarian and educational contacts. In total, we plan to organise about 250 events.
The BRICS Summit is scheduled for October 2024 in Kazan. As early as next week we will hold a meeting of the BRICS Council of Foreign Ministers in Nizhny Novgorod to be attended by both full-fledged members and invited countries representing a variety of integration entities in the Global Majority as well as other partners in the BRICS+ format.
The main focus of our activity is a search for response to the challenges and threats of our time and working out collective solutions to global problems and objectives of international development. We are paying particular attention (as instructed by the leaders at last year's summit in Johannesburg) to developing recommendations on the creation of multilateral mechanisms that would not depend on the illegitimate actions of the West. It is blatantly using the existing globalisation instruments to pursue its neo-colonial policies aimed at living at the expense of others. Such work is already under way through central banks and finance ministries. It will continue, including with active participation from foreign ministries, given the enormous foreign policy and geopolitical importance of this topic.
We are going to give priority attention to strengthening contacts with business circles. It is because these issues just cannot be solved efficiently without you. We will encourage a direct dialogue between entrepreneurs within BRICS. The Business Council and the Women's Business Alliance set up at Russia's initiative are already operating. We will support your participation in these organisations in every way possible, especially this year when Russia holds the presidency.
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