Lavrov Orients BRICS’ Historic Mission Around a ‘New Investment Platform’
July 10—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opened his remarks July 6 to Session II of the XVII BRICS Summit, on “Strengthening multilateral world order, financial and economic issues, artificial intelligence,” stressing the key point made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his video plenary address earlier in the day: that that BRICS had to launch a New Investment Platform to ensure the flow of substantial credit to development projects, rather than speculation. Putin was unable to attend the conference due to the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against him and addressed the opening session by video from Moscow.
“To address imbalances and to mobilize resources for development, Russia introduced an initiative to create within BRICS a New Investment Platform, with the participation of the [BRICS] New Development Bank (NDB). We thank our colleagues for showing their interest in the promising initiative. Its implementation will be facilitated by our joint efforts to turn the NDB into an innovative development institution that is oriented towards the needs of its own stakeholders and that is not subject to the influence of external conjuncture. Increasing the number of stakeholders will strengthen the potential of this mechanism and contribute to the expansion of its geography of operations. We highly appreciate the efforts of NDB President Dilma Rousseff in this direction,” Lavrov stated.
Lavrov explained the context of the Russia proposal. “Strengthening the multilateral world order while the international system goes through fundamental transformations is one of the crucial tasks for BRICS and for the entire international community. Multipolarity is not a choice but rather an objective reality which succeeds the outdated neoliberal model that actually builds on neocolonial practices. The traditional paradigm of globalization where the predominant role is played by the so-called developed states of the West is becoming a relic.”
He explained that the “global trade and finance system” is fragmenting, “exacerbated as a result of illegitimate unilateral sanctions and use of the dollar as a means of ‘punishment.’ The trust in the American currency as a formerly reliable payment instrument was undermined.” A monstrous world debt has been created. “Today developing countries are spending more on debt service than they invest in their development. The situation is going out of control even in developed states—the U.S. has seen a record level of sovereign debt of more than $37 trillion, and it continues to grow.”
He continued: “Therefore, it is not surprising that the global majority is interested in creating development mechanisms independent from the West. Countries of the Global South and East are becoming a main driving force of global economic growth…. In this context conceptual and practical approaches are being developed to establish a new architecture of the world economy based on the principles of equality, multilateralism and non-discrimination in trade, financial settlements, technology, logistics.”
“Nowadays BRICS stands as an engine of such transformation, which seeks to create a more stable global economic architecture.” The newly-expanded BRICS now accounts “for more than 40% of the global gross domestic product based on purchasing power parity, and together with partner countries, this figure is at 45% or $93 trillion. Today BRICS represents more than 20% of global trade and almost a half of world population. Ongoing work on the 2024 Kazan BRICS Summit arrangements are directed at a” Cross-Border Payment Initiative, [an] independent settlement and depositary infrastructure, to develop reinsurance capacity, to increase the effectiveness of special economic zones. The mechanism of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, including the use of currencies alternative to the dollar, is being improved. The share of BRICS countries in trade with Russia is constantly growing and in 2024 it exceeded 48%, with 90% of mutual settlements made in national currencies."
So, it’s time to “pursue the reform and depolarization of the Bretton Woods institutions which should reflect a real state of affairs in the world economy. The continued use of the IMF and WB with a view to preserve neocolonial practices is unacceptable…. The issues of development financing are becoming more and more pressing. According to the UN, its deficit is estimated at $4.2 trillion per year. If the current trends prevail, more than 600 million people will live in extreme poverty by 2030. Without sufficient funds and being unable to take out credits on acceptable conditions, countries of the Global South have to rely on official development assistance…. The increasingly aggressive attempts by the West to introduce ideological ultimatums into the dialogue as what are virtually the main criteria—based on Western interpretations of human rights and democracy—are having an extremely negative impact on the delivery of the UN sustainable development goals.”