Brazil hopes to see the countries of BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, strengthen as their importance grows on the international stage, a Brazilian diplomat said.
 
China will host the third BRICS Leaders' Meeting on April 14 in Sanya, a city in China's southern island province of Hainan.
 
"Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was the first head of state to confirm her participation in the summit, which indicates the importance we have attached to the BRICS and our wish to see the BRICS strengthen and to see the importance of the BRICS grow at the international forum," Brazilian Ambassador to China Clodoaldo Hugueney told Xinhua.
 
The previous two BRIC summits were held in Russia in 2009 and in Brazil in 2010.
 
"It is becoming a practice and tradition that we should have annual meetings of the states of the BRICS," Hugueney said. "It indicates the willingness of the leaders of the countries to meet, to exchange views, to coordinate, to cooperate and to review the status of their cooperation every year."
 
The upcoming summit is also the first of its kind after South Africa joined the BRICS group in December.
 
South Africa's participation is "a major addition to the original forum of BRIC countries," not only for the importance of South Africa, but also because it implies a new dimension of cooperation with current development and changes in Africa, Hugueney said.
 
The ambassador said the rise of emerging countries means the global economic center of gravity is moving to developing countries.
 
The IMF projects that in the post-crisis era from 2010 to 2015, the market share by developed economies will further shrink to 58.1 percent. The declining trend will continue until 2020 when developed and developing economies will make equal contributions to the world's production.
 
While developing countries are still suffering from the consequences of the financial crisis, emerging economies, such as some in Latin America and Africa, are experiencing rapid growth, Hugueney said.
 
"This reality implies the world is becoming more multipolar and the power–at least in the economic area–is more divided," the diplomat said.
 
As the importance of developing countries is growing, the G20 is central for monetary and financial reform, which is necessary to avoid the repetition of the financial crisis, Hugueney said.
 
Hugueney said the reform is a long process. "This process, of course, has to include all major partners, like the United States, Europe and Japan, but it is something that is still in the early days."
 
"We must redesign the current system to make it more stable and better reflect the distribution of the economic weight that is happening," Hugueney said.
 
Besides, strengthening the Brazil-China relationship is also an important component in the BRICS.
 
Rousseff's April visit to China became a priority on her agenda after taking office in January. "It indicates the importance she attaches to the relationship with China," Hugueney said.
 
The relations between Brazil and China have been developing in an "extraordinary" way in recent years, with cooperation expanding in the political, economic, cultural and academic sectors, Hugueney said.
 
China was Brazil's biggest trade partner in 2009, with bilateral trade exceeding 56 billion U.S. dollars in 2010. That year, China also became Brazil's largest investor.
 
"China can benefit a lot from the opportunities in terms of the growth in Brazilian economy," Hugueney said. With stable, sustainable and rapid growth, the Brazilian economy has the potential of growing for the future.
 
"It is important for China to be there [in Brazil] to cooperate with Brazilian companies to establish joint ventures to contribute to this continued growth of the Brazilian economy, as well as to invest in the social sector, infrastructure and explore new offshore oil reserves in Brazil," Hugueney said.
 
The two countries are also going to explore new areas for cooperation such as science and technology and renewable energy resources.
 
"In the future, you can see the relationship have everything to continue growing and contribute to both countries' common development," the ambassador said.

 

 
 
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