Algeria has submitted an official application to join the emerging-market bloc of BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, media reports said on Monday, citing Leila Zaruki, the Algerian Foreign Ministry special envoy for international partnership.
Algeria is Africa's biggest gas exporter and reportedly supplies about 11 percent of the natural gas consumed in Europe. As the global economy has entered a period of uncertainty and volatility partly due to the rampant inflation and high energy prices, some European countries have increasingly looked to Algeria to seek a solution.
Amid the current complex international environment, the North African country has gained more geopolitical importance and its application to join the BRICS grouping has drawn people's attention. In August, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune reportedly said that his country was ready to join BRICS.
There are other countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt who have also expressed their interest in strengthening their ties with BRICS members, or who are seeking to directly join the group. Their enthusiasm has demonstrated the strong vitality and attractiveness of the BRICS mechanism. The influence of BRICS cooperation has gone beyond the five countries and acts as a constructive force for boosting world economic growth.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in June that China actively supports the BRICS in starting the membership expansion process and expanding "BRICS Plus" cooperation. "China will encourage BRICS parties to continue in-depth discussions on the issue of membership expansion and work out standards and procedures for this process on the basis of consensus," Wang said.
Amid the heightened uncertainty throughout the global economy, some Western observers who have an ideological bias and zero-sum mentality should reflect on why BRICS is increasingly an attractive group that many other countries have confidence in. First, BRICS nations contribute about 50 percent of the economic development of the world, which makes the group very attractive economically. To seek sustainable development, BRICS members have enhanced cooperation in fields including trade, finance, supply chain and smart manufacturing.
BRICS brings together five major emerging market economies, comprising 41 percent of the world's population, owning 24 percent of the world GDP and 16 percent share in the world trade. Their role as an important engine of global economic growth will persist for a long time.
Second, the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, against the background of increasingly unstable and volatile factors in the international situation, is also attractive to developing countries. BRICS members have differences in geographical features, size and social governance, but they are able to support each other on issues concerning their core interests, multilateralism, safeguarding fairness and rejecting hegemony.
Over the past 16 years since its inception, BRICS has maintained sound momentum of development and made substantive progress in cooperation. Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Han Zhiqiang said in June that China will host more than 170 BRICS events in various fields throughout the year. In the first half of this year, more than 20 ministerial meetings were held.
Currently, even as the world economy shows signs of recovery it faces fresh headwinds on the road to sustainable growth. Global governance is facing enormous challenges brought about by the US government's unilateral sanctions, long-arm jurisdiction and economic decoupling move. Emerging market economies should strengthen coordination and continue to use BRICS as an important platform for cooperation.
The author is a reporter with the Global Times. [email protected]
The prices of some life-saving medicines have soared to levels that are unaffordable for ordinary people in Venezuela as the United States has ramped up military presence in the Caribbean off Venezuela's coast, alongside escalating sanctions, blockades and military threats against the oil-rich South American nation since late August.
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At a northeastern suburb in the capital city Caracas, locals can still purchase most of the commonly used medicines at a major supermarket, where some antibiotics have been sold out, and some first-aid medicines and supplies have become too costly for ordinary residents.
"I'm here mainly to buy antibiotics. I have problems with my lungs. But I can't get all I want, such as vancomycin," said a resident named Alfonso.
"Recent tensions have affected the supplies and prices of drugs. The prices of cancer drugs, insulin drugs and albumin are very high, and most patients here cannot afford them," said Giovanna Gonzalez a ...
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is prepared to use military force to achieve the goals of its special military operation if Ukraine continues to delay peace talks.
During an inspection of a Russian armed forces command post on Saturday, Putin stressed that Moscow will not allow Kiev’s obstruction to prevent progress.
“If the Kiev authorities do not want to resolve the matter peacefully, we will accomplish all the tasks before us in the course of the special military operation by military means,” he said.
The Russian leader noted that the Ukrainian authorities are not moving toward a peaceful resolution, adding, “We see that even today, unfortunately, the leaders of the Kiev regime are in no hurry to resolve this conflict peacefully. I spoke about this a year ago in a speech at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Putin also received reports from Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and commanders of Russia’s “Centre” and “East” military groups.
Meanwhile, ...
