2023 BRICS summit kicks off in South Africa with agenda to develop SMEs

The 2023 BRICS summit have kicked off in Johannesburg with a business forum in which representatives from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa highlighted key issues such as enhancing agricultural trade within the bloc, developing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and economic cooperation.

The representatives addressed discrepancies among member countries in order to improve collective agricultural commerce and proposed an increase in agricultural import-export activity within the bloc.

With annual trade totaling in the billions of dollars, the BRICS countries are a dominant force in agricultural, both in terms of production and consumption. However, due to trade restrictions inside the bloc and a lack of the infrastructure required to support extensive agricultural trade, a significant portion of this trade occurs with nations outside BRICS, notably Europe and the US.

According to Russia’s representative at the forum, Sergey Katyrin, agriculture is the “most important sector” in the BRICS. Countries in the group buy $315 billion of agricultural products and only 20 percent of this trade takes place with BRICS members.

“There is a huge potential to realize within our allies and interact with other countries in the African continent when it comes to agricultural trade,” Katyrin said.
Representatives at the forum unveiled also an airlift strategy aimed at tackling infrastructure issues and resolving supply chain barriers within the bloc to create an easy access passage within BRICS nations.

“We have proposed an airlift strategy that will be a comprehensive plan to make sure that we have air connection between the BRICS countries, to establish a flow of cargo, passengers, and businesspeople who are travelling to conduct trade and promote businesses,” said Jose Serrador, Chair of the BRICS Business Council Brazil chapter.

Enhancing agricultural trade within the bloc was one of the main topics at the BRICS opening.

However, discussions at the forum also shed a light on the bloc’s plans to develop small and medium scale enterprises through implementing friendly government policies, promoting open markets, and adopting multilateral treaty systems outlined by the World Trade Organization.

“We cannot leave small and medium enterprises behind because the nature of our economies is such that they are driven by SMEs, and in fact SMEs are at the center for job creation,” said Busi Mabuza Chair of South Africa’s chapter of BRICS Business Council.

The BRICS summit will continue for three days, concluding on August 24. Leaders from BRICS nations and other invited delegates are expected to discuss key issues concerning the bloc’s expansion and trade relations over the course of the next two days.