Joining the "BRICS" as a new path for developing countries, Brazilian scholars discuss the expansion of the BRICS: an unpopular Western neocolonialism country | BRICS | expansion
On the 24th, the 15th meeting of BRICS leaders announced that the BRICS cooperation mechanism will attract new members, with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, and Ethiopia joining the BRICS family. Former Vice President of the New Development Bank of the BRICS countries and Brazilian economist Paul Nogueira Batista Junier said in an interview with the Global Times that the evolution of the global geopolitical environment has given the BRICS Group new importance, and the desire of multiple countries to join indicates that the BRICS Group's weight in the world is becoming increasingly important.
"On the other hand, southern countries around the world are generally dissatisfied with the West and global governance, which is also one of the reasons why more countries hope to join the BRICS group." Nogaila told Global Times reporters that the Western neocolonial approach is unpopular, and countries see the BRICS countries as a new path to establish partnerships and support economic and social development.
According to Reuters, Brazilian President Lula called for the establishment of a common currency for trade and investment among BRICS countries during his attendance at the BRICS summit in South Africa on the 23rd, in order to reduce the impact of US dollar exchange rate fluctuations on the BRICS countries. But there are voices that the implementation of a common currency faces many difficulties, and it is too early to discuss it now.
"I believe that the prospects for a common currency are bright, and diversified currency choices will bring benefits to BRICS and other countries." Nogaila said that in the foreseeable future, the US dollar will still be an important currency, but the "de dollarization" of the world economy is already underway. For example, there are increasingly more cases of settlement through central bank swap lines in bilateral trade, which will gradually shake the hegemonic position of the US dollar.
In the view of this Brazilian economist, the United States has always used the US dollar as a weapon to strike countries it sees as "enemies". Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States and its allies have jointly frozen Russian reserves worth about $300 billion, an unprecedented practice that has weakened people's confidence in the dollar. Nogaila said, "The biggest enemy of the US dollar is the United States!"
"China has always played a constructive role in the BRICS group." Nogaila highly praised China's contribution to the BRICS countries, and told Global Times reporters, "As one of the participants in promoting the establishment of the BRICS emergency reserve arrangement mechanism, I have witnessed the positive role played by the Chinese representative throughout the entire process." Nogaila also said that Brazil and China have achieved remarkable results in economic and trade cooperation in recent years, and their relationship has become increasingly close. He hopes that the two countries can work together to inject BRICS strength into the world in the future.
