Member countries of BRICS, an informal organization of the world’s biggest emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) need to boost cooperation, while the group’s expansion is a matter for the future, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said, according to RIA Novosti.
“As for expansion plans, I think that we need to continue pursuing the current path, first and foremost, seeking to boost practical cooperation, increase gains from it and specifying activities in many areas, so that our countries and our people can feel… that BRICS’ existence is important in terms of creating new positive elements in the economic, social and scientific development of our countries, as well as for other areas of development,” Ryabkov pointed out, speaking at a press conference to mark the beginning of Russia’s chairmanship of BRICS in 2020.
“This is why it is possible to talk about the expansion of BRICS as a goal for the future,” the senior Russian diplomat emphasized.
According to Ryabkov, Russia is currently focused on activities on the BRICS+ platform, which “makes it possible for interested countries to find ways to cooperate with the group’s members.”
The Russian official also said that “the BRICS ship confidently overcomes the stormy waves of current world politics, acts confidently in difficult times of political turbulence, in conditions of unbalanced financial and economic architecture,” RIA Novosti reported.
