SA Chamber of Commerce Head Names Greatest Advances of Country's BRICS Presidency

South Africa's greatest accomplishments during its chairmanship of BRICS this year are increasing the bloc's significance as a multilateral organization and raising Africa's profile as "an economy of the future," the president of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the chairperson of the BRICS Business Council's Trade and Investment Working Group, Mtho Xulu told Sputnik Africa.

"I think the greatest thing that we came across is that we were able to lift the profile once again of BRICS as a multilateral organization that seeks to foster common good and development of the Global South. I think it was also a great opportunity because it highlighted the African Continental Free trade area and I believe that the profile of Africa is a growing marketplace and an opportunity for trade and investment. So our biggest achievement was to raise the profile of BRICS and also the profile of Africa as an economy of the future," he said on the sidelines of the BRICS International Innovation Forum.

As for the ongoing forum, Xulu expects that it would facilitate reinforcement of partnership between members of BRICS and the Middle East, noting that the aim of the event is to "analyze best practices [of technological and spatial development] amongst the member states."

Commenting on the outcomes of the recent BRICS Summit in South Africa, which took place on August 22-24, the official emphasized that during the summit countries heeded a lot the issues of trade and investment, which indicates the development of the BRICS Business Council.

"I think, the recent summit, the 15th summit held in South Africa was very successful, and you know that it gave a lot of attention to trade and investment, which means that the BRICS Business Council is maturing very nicely and is focused more on the uplifting of their profile of transactions between the companies of each country," Xulu told Sputnik Africa.

Continuing his thought about the results of the summit, he underlined that the expansion of the bloc could provide South African companies with access to the trade markets of joining countries.

The applications for the BRICS membership of six countries, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, were approved at the recent summit. The states will join as full members effective January 1, 2024.

"It also brought about the announcement of the expansion of BRICS, which also gives us an opportunity now to broaden the markets that South African companies will have access to and other opportunities in terms of exchanges and the development as an association of BRICS countries," the official added.

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Regarding the impact of the organization's enlargement on the Global South, Xulu highlighted the fact that countries with different cultures and economic approaches were approved to become new members of the bloc, along with their own regional organizations, contributes to the reinforcement of the Global South.

"You will see by the profile of the countries that have been added on that is an attempt really to bring about various locations and various cultures and obviously various expertise in different economic sectors. So the Global South is now going to be strengthened by this kind of forum because over and above, just being members of BRICS these various countries all have their own regional organizations that can only enhance the quality of multilateralism," he said.

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As for the prospects that BRICS expansion opens, particularly for South Africa, the official noted the possibility for the country to "maximize the value chains of all the exports," which will probably allow the state to "deepen a local industrialization and manufacturing."

"I think, what we are looking at from South Africa is that we need to close the trade deficits that we are currently experiencing with BRICS countries. So I think in the short term we would like to maximise the value chains of all the exports that we are strong at, and we are hoping that over and above that we will start being able to deepen a local industrialisation and manufacturing and also build an infrastructure network that will unlock a services' economy in South Africa," Xulu explained.

Furthermore, Xulu named digital economy, agriculture and minerals value chains as the main fields of intensification of South African-Russian cooperation.

The official also commented on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that is planned to be signed within the BRICS International Innovation Forum, saying that it will "formalize the relationships between the BRICS Chamber of Commerce and the South African Chamber of Commerce," enhancing the business partnership between the countries.

"The BRICS Chamber of Commerce is based in New Delhi and operates throughout India, promoting Indian companies into the BRICS market. And obviously we are based in South Africa, so we believe that the MOU will open up another channel between businesses of Africa and India," he noted.

The chairman went on to say that the essential "quality" of BRICS will "always be tested," in terms of the bloc's capacity to foster direct business collaboration.

"So, the opportunity of this year's conference allows us to formalize the relationships between what is called the BRICS Chamber of Commerce, as well as the South African Chamber of Commerce," he concluded.