Moscow hopes for new forms of cooperation among BRICS economies

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Russia considers it important to open new forms of cooperation among the five BRICS emerging economies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said after a meeting of the ministry's collegium intended to discuss tasks of Russian diplomacy during the country’s presidency of the group this year. "The interstate association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has become a powerful factor of global development and one of the most significant pillars of the growing tendency towards forming a polycentric world," the ministry said, adding that "promoting BRICS’ transformation into a full-scale mechanism of strategic and current cooperation on key issues of in global policy and economics" had been regarded as the main task of Russia’s presidency. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasised the need for the ministry to mobilise efforts to prepare the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Ufa on July 8-9. Participants in the meeting discussed further development of political, economic and humanitarian cooperation among the BRICS nations, the ministry said. "There are plans to open new tracks of multilateral industrial cooperation during Russia’s presidency of the BRICS group," it said. Special importance at the meeting was given to the task of ensuring work of the group’s new development bank and currency reserve pool. Participants also focused on steps to coordinate efforts of the BRICS states to enhance international security, reinforce the non-proliferation regime and combat drug trafficking, terrorism, extremism, and corruption. Read more