Bloc’s expansion promises less developed nations brighter future free from Western influence

(WANG XIAOYING / CHINA DAILY)

In the past year, it seems that not a day has gone by that the economic grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa has not made front-page headlines. The great majority of the media reports express the great enthusiasm of the countries of the Global South for BRICS, as this group is known.

With the 15th BRICS Summit held in South Africa from Aug 22 to 24, there has been much speculation about its future prospects.

Some Western media have sought to stir up trouble by reporting India and Brazil oppose the much-anticipated discussions on the expansion of BRICS, and that the Indian leader would not be attending the summit. These ill-intentioned claims were rebutted by South Africa’s Foreign Minister who said someone was “trying to spoil the summit”. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did attend and Brazil and India support the expansion of BRICS, they only seek elucidation on the entry rules.

BRICS has attracted the interest of over 20 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Egypt, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates, which have expressed a desire to be part of the group, as well as more observer nations keen on joining the path to membership. 

According to data published by the United Kingdom-based economic research firm Acorn Macro Consulting, even with only its present membership, BRICS already represents 31.5 percent of the global GDP, more than the G7’s 30 percent, and BRICS represents 43 percent of the world’s population. The West fears its own eclipse as BRICS expands over the next few years.

BRICS has shown the durability of the Global South. Led by its largest and leading economies in each major continent of the world, creating a better world than that of the past, one free of colonialism and any Cold War. The better world it envisions is represented by the concept of a multipolar global political-economic order based on mutual respect among countries whose relations are conducted on an equal footing.

The excitement of the Global South for the BRICS proposition is based on its clear observation of the BRICS leadership’s sincerity and the member countries’ fruitful economic development via infrastructure development. Much of the financing for this infrastructure has come from what used to be called the BRICS Bank, now formally known as the New Development Bank, which is led by a Global South champion Dilma Rousseff of Brazil.

With new power, rail, road, sea, and telecommunication infrastructure, the total volume of trade in goods of BRICS countries has steadily grown, reaching nearly $8.55 trillion in 2021. Imagine this infrastructure network expanding to the whole of Africa and Latin America, growing trade without the unilateral impositions of neo-liberal economic deregulation, privatization, and liberalization of the past Western concept of globalization.

Surging support for BRICS from the nations of the Global South is a historical phenomenon that has been waiting to happen in the 21st century. The 15th BRICS Summit marks the beginning of a new community of mankind sharing the future as one.

Coming from the Philippines, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), I have a special interest in BRICS. BRICS countries such as China, India, and Russia are among the top trading partners of ASEAN countries. The 19th ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials’ Meeting took place in Siem Reap, Cambodia on April 29, where foreign ministers of member countries expressed their keen interest in deepening ties with BRICS.

The lament many in the Philippines have at this time is that while the rest of the Global South and ASEAN, particularly Indonesia, have expressed an interest in joining BRICS and being carried forward on the BRICS tide, the Philippines is in regression as the Western powers return to sow division and tension in the country, distracting it from joining the wave of hope, optimism and confidence that would come from partaking in the brave new world BRICS is building.

The author is founder of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.