BRICS countries band together in defense of multilateralism

On Wednesday as the 10th BRICS summit meeting opened in Johannesburg, Reuters news agency published an article that said “As Donald Trump's tariff salvos threaten global trade wars, leaders from the BRICS bloc - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are expected to band together in defense of the multilateralism the United States once championed.”

Addressing the BRICS Business Forum, China's President Xi Jinping said "BRICS countries should firmly promote an open world economy, be resolute in rejecting unilateralism and protectionism, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and jointly steer the global economy toward greater openness, inclusiveness, balanced growth, and win-win outcomes for all." 

In recent years, there has been a widening of the gap in the wealth and growth of different regions of the world, which has fed into growing anti-globalization sentiments and trade protectionism. In "The Inclusive Growth and Development Report 2017", the World Economic Forum warned that many countries are losing out on an important opportunity to revitalize their economies and reduce inequality in their societies if they do not take timely steps to adjust their approach to economic growth.

The theme of this year's meeting, "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the Fourth Industrial Revolution", is reminiscent of the theme of the Summer Davos organized by the World Economic Forum in Dalian in Northeast China last year of "Achieving Inclusive Growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution". This is no coincidence. They both represent a clear global call for sustainable development inclusive of better education, technological innovation, and environmental protection.

Sustainable development requires a change away from a model of economic growth that uses gross domestic product as its leading measure of success, to one that puts greater emphasis on increasingly innovative, coordinated, and environmentally sustainable growth.

China has been purposefully making this transition. Its economy looks like it is growing more slowly; because the government is carefully applying the brakes as it makes this shift. But the slowdown is already proving its worth. For example, the country has accelerated its pace of innovation, submitting some 48,000 international patent applications to the World Intellectual Property Organization last year. This makes China the world’s second-largest generator of patents. And China’s government has also put a greater focus on improving people's living standards. Over the past five years, 68 million people have been lifted out of poverty, which is poverty alleviation on an unprecedented scale.  

At this week’s BRICS summit, representatives from government and business circles in South Africa have expressed their hopes that African countries will raise their level of industrialization and their status in the global industrial chain by strengthening infrastructure construction and promoting free trade. They have also called for equal participation in and sharing of the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with the rapid advances in mobile Internet access, big data, and artificial intelligence.

Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum, President Xi noted that emerging markets and developing countries already contribute an 80 percent share of global economic growth and account for nearly 40 percent of global economic output. If they continue to grow at their current rates, these countries will account for half of the world's economic output in a decade.

But achieving inclusive growth is easier said than done. That's why the World Economic Forum Inclusive Development Index, an annual assessment of the economic performance of 103 countries in terms of their growth and development, inclusion, and intergenerational equity, saw a notable decline in over half of the countries in the past five years.

There is a price to be paid for inclusive and sustainable development. Decision makers have to compromise short-term political benefits for the long-term public good. This takes the kind of vision, courage, and determination that is evident in the approach of the leaders at the BRICS summit. And it is seen in the long-term partnerships they have forged through projects such as the BRICS New Development Bank, the BRICS New Industrial Revolution partnership, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Iqbal Surve, the chairman of the South Africa BRICS Business Council, is an advocate for this approach when he says "We must be a strong advocate on free trade. Our countries need free trade; it's important for our economies. We’ve come to a situation where some countries that have reached a high level of growth today start to impose trade barriers. They advocated free trade and globalization 20 years ago. BRICS countries and other developing economies cannot be denied access to those markets."

The leaders of the BRICS countries have steadfastly agreed to stick with the approach of multilateralism and free trade in a bid to create an inclusive society and global partnerships that enable more and more people to enjoy the dividends of globalization and the new industrial revolution.