Argentina will take another step next week in its strategic alliance with the Brics with its presence at the XIV Summit of Heads of State of the group of countries that make up Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, scheduled for Friday, June 24 next, which will take place virtually and in which the participation of President Alberto Fernández is planned.
With the focus on the enlargement of its membership and sustainable global development by 2030the call will have Xi Jinping in the role of host while among the invited heads of state is the Argentine President, who intends to be part of the summit if the leaders participate, official sources confirmed to this agency.
With the invitation of his peer from China, Argentina could take a step of strategic relevance with the horizon set to join the forum: The Brics are a group with a strong geopolitical and economic weight that unites the two largest powers after the United States (China and Russia) with emerging countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“High-Level Dialogue on Global Development” will be the motto of the Summit that has China in charge of the pro-tempore presidency and that will be held remotely next Friday, between 9 and 11 in Buenos Aires (from 20 to 22 in Beijing).
There will be a debate on the need to “promote a global alliance to jointly implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development“and, within this framework, promote a more relevant role for emerging economies and developing countries, diplomatic sources familiar with the organization informed Télam.
On this axis -as detailed- the central themes of the forum will be: Multilateralism and global governance, development and transfer of technology, health cooperation, poverty reduction, harmony with the environment, the articulation of a financial architecture based on development production and issues related to the digital economy and connectivity, among other topics.
China holds the rotating presidency of the Brics this year and is actively promoting the addition of more countries to the initiativein the midst of the global economic competition that it maintains with the United States and the strong and growing investments the Asian giant has been turning to Latin America.
In addition to the leaders of the member countries of the Brics, Twelve non-bloc presidents were invited to the meeting: Fernández is on the list along with the heads of state of Indonesia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Senegal, Thailand, Algeria, among others.
Argentina participates at the request of the personal invitation made to Fernández by Xi himself in the framework, this year, of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations with China and while the Argentine president holds the pro-tempore presidency of the Community of Latin American States and Caribbean (Celac).
In this way, the head of state will take to the meeting “both the national position and that of the region,” official sources told this agency.
A few days ago, Argentina renewed its interest in joining the grouping of the five emerging economies that began to meet in 2009 and that For the country, it means “an excellent alternative for cooperation in the face of a world order that has been working for the benefit of a few”according to Fernández at the Forum of Political Parties of the Brics, on May 19.
The possibility of adding the country to the group that represents around 42% of the world population, holds 24% of global GDP, 18% of total international trade and covers 30% of the planet’s territory It was an objective pursued by the Government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and which was later not disdained by former President Mauricio Macri.
In fact, the Argentina has already participated in two Brics summits, those held in 2014 (Brasilia) and 2018 (Johannesburg).
In terms of foreign trade with Argentina -according to official data- the Brics represent approximately 30% of national exports, and provide 43% of imports.
The Argentine role
In this scenario, Argentina seeks to consolidate itself as a global and stable provider of food and energy. It is one of the main world producers and exporters of cereals, and also one of the leaders in biotechnology applied to food production.
The central elements of this summit will be developed around the United Nations 2030 Agenda in order to contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals proposed by the organization and, within this framework, the “Global Development Initiative presented by the President Xi Jinping’s focus on human development is of great relevance,” sources from the Argentine Embassy in Beijing told Télam.
The link between the Brics and Latin America has been especially strengthened in the last two years: Health cooperation with the countries of the group was key for all of Latin America and particularly for Argentina, which received assistance from China, Russia and India in the most difficult moments of the coronavirus pandemic.
The bloc seeks to play a central role in promoting a new international financial architecture with the creation of the New Brics Development Bank (BND) together with the Continence Reserves agreement (ARC) as instruments for global macroeconomic stability oriented towards productivity and promote a new multipolar world order.
Under this premise, the BND aims to shore up the infrastructure deficits that emerging countries have with the financing of infrastructure projects and sustainable development.
The BND already has a projected program for 2022-2026, which includes financial assistance for member countries of 30 billion dollars.
In order to strengthen the global financial safety netthe ACR has a preventive objective, in terms of dealing with a liquidity crisis or containing the volatility of the markets in the face of the withdrawal of monetary stimuli.
For this, it currently works as a currency swap agreement for about 100 billion dollars.
In the previous summit of Political Parties of the Brics, Fernández had stressed that “the New Development Bank of the BRICS, in which my country could participate, is the institutionalization of a new world order focused on development, far from the financial speculation that has caused so much damage to our countries.”
There he also expressed that “the Brics are, without a doubt, a group of determining countries for world economic development”, to later evaluate that “world macroeconomic stability and economic growth pass and will pass increasingly through this group of countries”.
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In the same discursive line and in a recent meeting with his peers from the Brics, Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero denounced that “the global needs of developing countries have been relegated for decades”, and proposed to face this situation by locating “the interests of our countries at the center of international dialogues and negotiations”.
In that sense, He underlined the “importance” for Argentina to “advance towards greater coordination with the Brics countries”, in the conviction that “emerging economies must be the engine of an economic recovery that is inclusive and sustainable over time.”
Narvaja Cow
“The possibility of Argentina joining together with other emerging countries will give unique characteristics to this group, making it the most relevant geopolitical group in the world”assessed, for his part, the Argentine ambassador in Beijing, Sabino Vaca Narvaja, in events prior to the next summit.
Upon assuming his diplomatic mission in China, Vaca Narvaja formed a working group to coordinate the strategy for Argentina’s entry into the Brics.
This is a joint task that in recent years has been coordinated by the Executive and the ambassadors Vaca Narvaja (China), Eduardo Zuain (Russia), Hugo Gobi (India), Claudio Pérez Paladino (South Africa) and the now Minister of Productive Development Daniel Scioli , until last week ambassador to Brazil.
In a recent interview with Télam, Vaca Narvaja highlighted as “extremely important” the invitation for Argentina to participate in the forum, especially due to the country’s interest in joining the forum that since the beginning of the century has brought together Brazil, Russia, India , China and South Africa (from whose initials the acronym Brics derives), a position that President Fernández officially conveyed during his visit to Beijing in early February.
