SA needs to be competitive to reap more rewards from BRICS membership: BUSA

Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) says that the country needs to be competitive in order to reap more rewards as a member of BRICS. This as South Africa prepares to host the 15th BRICS Summit starting next week in Sandton, north of Johannesburg.

The Summit has attracted global interest due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and South Africa’s insistence on taking a neutral stance on the matter, refusing to condemn Russia.

Some of the issues expected to be discussed is the possibility of more countries including Saudi Arabia, joining BRICS. A BRICS currency has also been touted, which is widely seen as a ploy to depose a US-led global order.

“There’s certainly been an increase in trade between our country and the BRICS countries although we’re in deficits on trade with all the BRICS countries. That’s because we’re not manufacturing enough, we’re only exporting raw material and minerals and not value adding. A lot of that has to do with sorting out our internal issues but there are definitely upsides. We have to appreciate that we’re the smallest of the BRICS nations and we need to do everything we need to internally, to ensure that we firstly are competitive, so that we compete effectively with the other BRICS nations,” says BUSA CEO Cas Coovadia.

BRICS Business Council – Risk allocation debated in government-private sector ventures:
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