Speaking ahead of the opening of a two-day summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday, South Africa's Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the BRICS bloc aims to claim its place on the global scene.
“Today the world takes notice of this bloc because it's at the forefront of the global discourse,” to reduce dependence on the dollar, Mashatile told business leaders from the BRICS late on Monday.
“We are not here to compete with the West. We want our space in global business," he added.
South Africa's Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said earlier this month that strengthening the New Development Bank (NBD), also known as the BRICS Bank, is on top of the summit's agenda, Press TV reported.
“Most countries that are members of the NDB have been encouraging [it] to provide loans in local currencies,” Godongwana said on Aug. 14. “[It is] not doing as much as member countries require, but that is the strategic direction we are pushing the bank [in].”
Meantime, BRICS Summit, which is hosted by the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, brings together leaders of global heavyweights, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Russian President Vladamir Putin joined the summit virtually while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is present.
About 50 world leaders and United Nation Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are attending the summit.