Burkina Faso's interim President Captain Ibrahim Traore has met with the BRICS representative for West and Central Africa, Ahoua Don Mello, to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation with the group's member states, the Communication Department of the country's Presidency has said in a statement.
The meeting took place on Tuesday morning following a working session held the previous day at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Accompanied by Olivia Rouamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabe Abroad, the representative of the BRICS Alliance provided a report to Traore on the major highlights of the session.
It was noted that the discussions revolved around choosing suitable projects and creating a collaborative framework with BRICS member states. Mello, for his part, stated that the main aim of the meetings was to select a number of projects and engage in detailed discussions with BRICS partners to provide for their successful implementation.
After the initial stage of project identification, the President of the BRICS International Alliance is expected to visit Burkina Faso in the coming days for the next stage, which is the installation of the Alliance in the country in the hopes of "creating a bridge" between the West African nation and BRICS member states.
It was indicated that following the report to Traore, the latter advocated for the continuation of this process.
According to Mello, the BRICS International Alliance is a crucial link between the informal bloc's countries and the non-member countries. It opens avenues for enhanced cooperation in trade, infrastructure, security and other fields.
The BRICS International Alliance for strategic projects is an organization that implements initiatives and decisions taken within the group, aiming to promote international socio-economic development.