Culture, Economy, Security — BRICS Pillars to Develop, Ethiopia's Ambassador to Russia Says
10:39 14.03.2024 (Updated: 09:02 15.03.2024)
© Sputnik
Subscribe
This week, BRICS diplomats attended the "Maslenitsa: Dialogue of Civilizations" event in Moscow, dedicated to the traditional Slavic holiday of Maslenitsa, which celebrates the beginning of spring. Sputnik Africa spoke to Ethiopian Ambassador Cham Ugala Uriat about culture, trade in local currencies and why African countries want to join the bloc.
Russia is leading the BRICS this year, and under its chairmanship, it is expected to develop the organization's fundamentals, such as culture and tradition, security, and economy, Cham Ugala Uriat, ambassador of Ethiopia to Russia, told Sputnik Africa.
"Through Russian chairmanship, we expect a lot. BRICS is about expanding economic relationship cooperation between the BRICS members. And it's about cooperation in culture and traditions. It is about cooperating in security areas. So these are the main pillars of BRICS. So we expect that the chairmanship of Russia will cover all of this," the ambassador said.
One of the priorities of Russia's BRICS chairmanship is to create alternative financial instruments and promote trade in local currencies between the countries, which can reduce their dependence on Western financial institutions. Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin has just signed a law allowing the use of digital financial instruments. Commenting on this, Uriat noted that Russia, China, India, and Saudi Arabia are already conducting transactions in local currencies and expressed hope that this will be extended to other member countries.
He added, however, that Ethiopia has not yet decided whether it would be interested in using digital assets to trade with Russia, but the ambassador said that, hopefully, "one day it will happen."
Cham Ugala Uriat, ambassador of Ethiopia to Russia, at the "Maslenitsa: Dialogue of Civilizations" event in Moscow.
© Sputnik
The cultural event dedicated to Maslenitsa also led to a discussion of the vast diversity of cultures of the BRICS member countries and how to bridge it. The diplomat recalled that Russia, China, India, Ethiopia, and Egypt "are the owners of the oldest cultures in the world" and believed that the BRICS states would be able to create a common culture.
"I hope that the BRICS member states can cooperate in this regard and show the whole world that they have a culture. And through culture, people can come together and know each other. So I think that's why one of the BRICS pillars is the culture itself. I hope it can happen," Uriat shared his thoughts.
Lastly, the ambassador said that he has no doubt that "many countries in Africa will come and join BRICS in the near future" since the bloc's work is based on the principle of equality.
"BRICS is a group of countries that come together just to work on an equal basis and respect each other and respect the sovereignty of each other and not interfere in the domestic matters of each other. There is no person or there is no country that considers itself as the dominant in the group. [...] [I do not doubt] that many countries in Africa will come and join BRICS in the near future," Uriat concluded.
