South Africa received more benefits than it paid for hosting the 15th BRICS Summit, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said on November 1.
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| South Africa benefited greatly from the BRICS Summit held last August, helping Pretoria achieve many priority goals, contributing to the country's overall development. (Source: New York Times) |
DIRCO affirmed that South Africa received many benefits, in which the priority goal that Pretoria set was to strengthen the partnership between BRICS and African countries.
In this regard, the BRICS leaders reaffirmed their support for the African Union’s Agenda 2063. In particular, they supported the operationalization of the African Free Trade Area through economic and financial cooperation between BRICS and African countries.
DIRCO's statement came after the opposition Democratic Alliance party claimed South Africa spent 180 million Rand (about $9.7 million) on the BRICS summit.
In addition, South Africa hopes to make good use of its relations with BRICS members to address the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, through increased trade, investment, tourism , capacity building and technology transfer within BRICS.
BRICS is a group of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Enlargement is one of the priorities on the BRICS agenda.
Before the summit in August in South Africa, more than 40 countries expressed their desire to join BRICS, of which 23 countries officially applied to join the bloc.
BRICS leaders have agreed to invite six countries to join the group: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries will have full membership from January 1, 2024.
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