Interview: BRICS spurs global cooperation, multilateralism, says expert

BUENOS AIRES, June 23 (Xinhua) -- BRICS has played an important role in spurring cooperation between emerging economies and developing countries, and promoting multilateralism, an Argentine expert has said.

BRICS, an emerging-market group which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is a product of an increasingly multipolar world and also reflects the growing influence of emerging economies worldwide, Jorge Malena, director of the Asian Affairs Committee at the Argentine Council for International Relations told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Developed countries' influence on the world economy has been on the wane, with their contributions to the global growth falling gradually, Malena said.

Malena, who also heads the studies of China in the Global Era at Argentina's Catholic University, said several BRICS countries have become significant donors of aid to developing countries and key investors in both emerging and developed economies.

"China, in particular, is already one of the world's leading investors," he said, noting that the country spearheaded the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank headquartered in Beijing, and BRICS established the New Development Bank (NDB) headquartered in Shanghai.

There is hope that BRICS investments could make the international economy more equitable, the expert added.

Taking the NDB as an example, Malena said the bank has not attached conditionality to its loans and made innovations in such ways as offering credit in local currency, Malena said.

From renewable energy projects in Brazil to railway network upgrade programs in India, the NDB had approved more than 80 projects in member countries by May 2021, with a total portfolio of some 30 billion U.S. dollars.