BRICS Call for End to Unilateral, Protectionist Trade Measures

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Respect for the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a call for an end to unilateral and protectionist trade measures were the main focus of the trade ministers’ meeting of BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

“We reaffirm our commitment to transparent, non-discriminatory, open, free and inclusive international trade. We reiterate our full support for the rules-based multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core. It is vital that all WTO members avoid unilateral and protectionist measures that are contrary to the spirit and rules of the WTO,” stressed the meeting’s official statement.

“Our countries will work with all WTO members to advance in a necessary, balanced, open, transparent reform process that fosters inclusion and development. The reform must, among other things, preserve the focus, core values and basic principles of the WTO and address the interests of all its members, including developing countries and LDCs,” the text said.

Cooperation

Based on a study submitted by the BRICS’ Contact Group on Economic and Trade Affairs (CGETI), the ministers drew up guidelines for expanding trade cooperation between the group’s countries.

The main segments to benefit will be e-commerce, investment facilitation, trade between micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, standardization of technical regulations and intellectual property rights.

The CGETI completed a memorandum of understanding on trade and investment development among the BRICS countries. The statement will help improve economic opportunities among the group’s members and allow for the sharing of policy expertise.

Private investment in infrastructure

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Monday, November 11th, in Rio de Janeiro, between the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and the development banks of the countries that make up the BRICS.

According to BNDES, the goal is to leverage private investments in infrastructure projects in the bloc’s member countries.

“The goal is to introduce initiatives such as financial solutions, concession models and public-private partnerships (PPPs), as well as proposals to improve the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks,” said the BNDES.

In the next stage, according to the conclusions of the working group, the BRICS development banks will be able to assess the use of tools that are able to attract private resources.