Egyptian FM calls for BRICS' role in making global economy more inclusive of developing countries

CAIRO – 10 June 2024: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry attended Monday the meeting of BRICS' foreign ministers in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod delivering a speech at a session on reinforcing cooperation among member states as well as the bloc's stance on international affairs, and another at a session on the framework of collaboration with non-member states.

The minister expressed Egypt's happiness about its representation for the first time as a member state in BRICS. He tackled the crisis of Gaza Strip among other ongoing armed conflicts, condemning the Israeli random military operations that claimed the lives of dozens of thousands of innocent civilians, and caused large-scale destruction and instability in the Middle East.

Minister Shokry stressed Egypt's stance that advocates for an immediate ceasefire, protection of civilians, sufficient delivery of aid, and establishment of a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967 having as capital Eastern Jerusalem. He also asserted the country's rejection to attempts of the displacement of the Palestinian people.   

With regard to BRICS, the minister pointed out that the recent expansion of the bloc boosted its capability in representing developing countries in that critical timing. On that front, he displayed Egypt's priorities and expectations saying that BRICS should keep calling for a global economic governance that is more inclusive of developing countries. That is in addition to supporting developmental funding, encouraging multilateral banks to provide soft loans to developing states, and backing regional trade agreements in the south.  

Minister Shokry equally urged reforming the global debt structure in a way that empowers low-income and middle-income countries to invest in their human resources and infrastructure, noting that technology transfer to developing countries and capacity-building were a must.

The foreign minister said that the increasing use of national currencies in transactions between BRICS' member states would play a major role in improving the resilience of their economies. In that context, he underlined the importance of the new BRICS-affiliated development bank in financing enterprises in the sectors of energy, food security, and transport.