2023 BRICS Declaration

The 2023 BRICS Summit Declaration is a 26 page long pdf document that can be found here. I was asked earlier on another forum what the BRICS stood for to which I provided an answer but also said let’s see what the Declaration says. Along with other things, it has this to say in its Preamble:

As we build upon 15 years of BRICS Summits, we further commit ourselves to strengthening the framework of mutually beneficial BRICS cooperation under the three pillars of political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation and to enhancing our strategic partnership for the benefit of our people through the promotion of peace, a more representative, fairer international order, a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system, sustainable development and inclusive growth.

There may seem to be a lot of boiler plate statements within the Declaration but a close reading reveals that's not the case as there're some rather important specifics. Here's one:

We reaffirm our support for the open, transparent, fair, predictable, inclusive, equitable, non-discriminatory and rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core, with special and differential treatment (S&DT) for developing countries, including Least Developed Countries. We stress our support to work towards positive and meaningful outcomes on the issues at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13). We commit to engage constructively to pursue the necessary WTO reform with a view to presenting concrete deliverables to MC13. We call for the restoration of a fully and well-functioning two-tier binding WTO dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024, and the selection of new Appellate Body Members without further delay.

That's directly aimed at the Outlaw US Empire that's responsible for the issues cited above as it can no longer control the WTO through legitimate means--it's now too democratic and is direct evidence proving the total sham of Biden's "Democracy Summits."

Fundamentally, the Declaration wants to attain what was declared the goals of the Second World War, goals that were announced as the Four Freedoms (Freedom from Want, Fear, of Speech, and Worship) that became the basis for the UN Charter but through various means have not yet been attained mainly because the UN Charter is continually and wantonly violated by the Imperialist Nations. The reforms in the Bretton Woods Institutions called for are one major aspect of attaining those goals, but such reforms are continually blocked by the Outlaw US Empire so it can retain control of those institutions. And of course, that’s one of the factors driving the creation of a new system and institutions so the non-Imperialist world can develop without constraints.

BRICS of course is an organization focused on aiding the development of its members and its associates, so a major portion of the document is devoted to that overall topic. These two points emphasize the shared risks aspect of not just BRICS but the entire developing world as their abilities far greater when combined than trying to go solo:

27. We encourage multilateral financial institutions and international organizations to play a constructive role in building global consensus on economic policies and preventing systemic risks of economic disruption and financial fragmentation. We call for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to continue implementing the recommendations which should be voluntary within MDBs governance frameworks, from the G20 Independent Review Report on MDBs Capital Adequacy Frameworks to increase their lending capacities, while safeguarding MDBs long-term financial stability, robust creditor rating, and preferred creditor status.

28. We believe that multilateral cooperation is essential to limit the risks stemming from geopolitical and geoeconomic fragmentation and intensify efforts on areas of mutual interest, including but not limited to, trade, poverty and hunger reduction, sustainable development, including access to energy, water and food, fuel, fertilizers, as well as mitigating and adapting to the impact of climate change, education, health as well as pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

The debt issue follows but isn’t discussed at length since the current problem’s well known as is its source: “We note that high debt levels in some countries reduce the fiscal space needed to address ongoing development challenges aggravated by spillover effects from external shocks, particularly from sharp monetary tightening in advanced economies. Rising interest rates and tighter financing conditions worsen debt vulnerabilities in many countries.” Given that current Fed policy of raising interest rates has nothing to do with solving the inflation Fed policy caused by printing insane amounts of money, we must conclude it’s part of the financial war being waged on US citizens and those of nations unfortunate to be holders of debt denominated in dollars. As several well know economists have suggested, that debt ought to be declared onerous and vacated.

Addressing the Digital Divide is one of BRICS goals that must be solved for the implementation of the new international financial and trading system and its institutions, and its criticalness was likely the reason why the well-intentioned idea of a BRICS currency was shelved. The new system must have the infrastructure in place prior to its trials. Prior to that, nations can continue to build up their internal infrastructure by trading in national currencies since using the dollar or euro systems doesn’t promote building and using new infrastructure. For that reason, many experts advocate building regional networks first then connecting them when the infrastructure is mature. Yes, that will prolong Dollar Hegemony, however, new loans denominated in national currencies become easily repayable versus any loan not denominated that way. That way development can continue while attacking Dollar Hegemony. Lots of specifics are noted regarding industrial development, but mcuh emphasis was laid here: “We recognize the crucial role that Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) play in unlocking the full potential of BRICS economies and reaffirm the importance of their participation in production networks and value chains.” There are too many examples of people wanting to work but lack enterprises to employ them, and that causes the frustrations that are exploited by extremists. Gainfully employed people don’t join the pool of potentials for Terrorist Foreign Legions. All the above and more is contained in the following excerpt:

47. We welcome the establishment of the BRICS Think Tank Network for Finance during 2022 and efforts to operationalise the Network. We will work towards the identification and designation of the lead Think Tanks from member countries. We endorse the Operational Guidelines for the BRICS Think Tank Network for Finance developed under South Africa’s Chairship, which provides guidance on how the Network will operate in terms of governance, delivery of outputs and funding of the BRICS Think Tank Network for Finance.

48. We recognise that infrastructure investments support human, social, environmental, and economic development. We note that the demand for infrastructure is growing, with a greater need for scale, innovation and sustainability. We highlight that BRICS countries continue to offer excellent opportunities for infrastructure investment. In this regard, we further recognise that leveraging governments’ limited resources to catalyse private capital, expertise and efficiency will be paramount in closing the infrastructure investment gap in BRICS countries.

49. We continue to support the work of the Task Force on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Infrastructure in sharing knowledge, good practices and lessons learnt on the effective development and delivery of infrastructure for the benefit of all member countries. In this regard, the Task Force has collated guiding principles that advance the adoption of a programmatic approach in infrastructure delivery and promotes the use of PPPs and other blended finance solutions in infrastructure development and delivery. We look forward to convening the Infrastructure Investment Symposium later this year for a discussion amongst BRICS governments, investors and financiers on ways to work with the private sector to promote the use of green, transition and sustainable finance in infrastructure delivery.

50. The BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) continues to be an important mechanism for mitigating the effects of a crisis situation, complementing existing international financial and monetary arrangements, and contributing to the strengthening of the global financial safety net. We reiterate our commitment to the continued strengthening of the CRA and look forward to the successful completion of the sixth Test-Run later in 2023. We also support progress made to amend the outstanding technical issues on the Inter-Central Bank Agreement and endorse the proposed theme of 2023 BRICS Economic Bulletin ‘Challenges in a post-COVID-19 environment.

51. We welcome the continued cooperation on topics of mutual interest on sustainable and transition finance, information security, financial technology, and payments, and look forward to building on work in these areas under the relevant work streams, including the proposed study on leveraging technology to address climate data gaps in the financial sector and support the proposed initiatives aimed at enhancing cyber security and developing financial technology, including the sharing of knowledge and experience in this area.

On sustainable development goals, BRICS will need to recognize the fact that the developed nations will never come close to providing the level of funding they’ve promised, which was to be “USD 100bn per annum by 2020 and through 2025.” It was recently noted that the USA hasn’t even broken the $1 Billion mark in this area, while NATO/EU nations are in a recession of their own design and face dire fiscal problems. Energy use is directly connected to development and the issue of Climate Change. Infrastructure for development requires electricity and larger energy requirements for the manufacture of primarily but not limited to steel and cement. Again, the BRICS goal is to attain the Four Freedoms, and the freedoms from want and fear are directly related to the level of economic development, which is also related to poverty. BRICS and the RoW have billions of impoverished people. Of the BRICS, only China has zero poverty, which continues to be an outstanding achievement. The #1 goal of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is to eradicate poverty followed by hunger which is a complement to poverty. Better distribution of available foods can solve the hunger issue as has been the case for decades. Poverty alleviation, however, requires energy to construct the infrastructure required to eliminate poverty. Thus, distribution of fuels to provide that energy is part of poverty relief, and that’s why poor nations need pipelines, railroads, and paved roads; sewer and water distribution systems; and an electrical system capable of supporting digital systems. And all that requires education and training.

Those are the important parts of the BRICS Declaration, which means there’s a lot of work needing to be done. It ought to be noted that Ethiopia was one of the six new BRICS additions and its geographic position to several very problematic areas: Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. However, that also provides a unique opportunity for BRICS other additions, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. Together with the rest of BRICS, perhaps they can solve the problems generated by the Imperialists and finally bring peace and the beginnings of stability to the four problem areas so the job of development can be given a chance to succeed.

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