The Issue of Egypt’s Membership in the BRICS is an Important and Urgent Matter, Writes Cairo Newspaper “Al-Masry Al-Youm”

The issue of Egypt’s membership in the BRICS is an important and urgent matter, writes the Cairo newspaper “Al-Masry Al-Youm”.

BRICS is a group created in 2009 that includes China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa. The BRICS countries represent 42% of the world’s population and 24% of the global GDP. They account for 16% of world exports and 15% of world imports of goods and services.
The BRICS group is not an official organization, but the leaders of its five countries meet annually to deepen and strengthen cooperation between it.

South Africa plans to hold the next summit in Durban at the end of August.

Talk of Egypt’s BRICS membership is not new, and a reader of former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheith’s book ‘My Certificates’ finds the roots of this aspiration as part of the expansion of Egypt

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Towards BRICS Membership – Mohamed Kamal

BRICS is the grouping that was founded in 2009 and includes China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa. The BRICS countries represent 42% of the world’s population, 24% of the world’s GDP. They contribute 16% of world exports and 15% of world imports of goods and services.

The BRICS group is not an official organization, but the leaders of its five countries meet annually to deepen and strengthen cooperation between it. South Africa is scheduled to host the next summit in Durban in late August.

Talking about Egypt’s membership in BRICS is not new, and the reader of the book of former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit entitled “My Certificates” finds the roots of this endeavor within the framework of expanding the frameworks of Egypt’s movement in the world.

However, there was always a question about the feasibility of Egypt joining this group. There are those who are skeptical and believe that BRICS has not achieved much since its inception, and that it is just a framework for coordination and is not an economic bloc or an international organization in the full sense of the word, and that some of its countries are going through difficult circumstances, or there is a degree of tension or heterogeneity between them. They point out that Russia is preoccupied and exhausted in the Ukraine war, that the Chinese economy is still suffering from challenges after the Corona pandemic, and that there is a contraction in the economies of Brazil and South Africa and their preoccupation with internal challenges. In addition to the border tension between India and China, and India’s vision of the relationship with the West, which may differ from the vision of both China and Russia.

My point of view is that despite the validity of some of the previous assumptions, the BRICS group has witnessed huge transformations in the recent period, whether on the institutional side or cooperation policies. And that it will become, in the near future, one of the main gatherings that will contribute to laying the foundations for a new global economic order, the precursors of which have begun to take shape, and the consequences of new international balances.

Hence, re-raising the issue of Egypt’s BRICS membership is an important and urgent matter.

The face of the wheel is that the upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa will consider the issue of the new membership of the group, and determine the mechanism for joining, as its basic charter does not yet include a specific section on adding new members.

Reports indicate that there are approximately 19 countries that wish to do so. According to the South African delegate to the group, there are 13 countries that have officially applied to join, and 6 others have applied in another way, and he added, “We receive requests to join every day.”

Some of these countries belong to our Arab world, such as Saudi Arabia and Algeria, and there is Iran from the Middle East, in addition to other countries, the most important of which are Argentina and Mexico.

As for the new transformations that represent a catalyst for Egypt’s interest in joining the BRICS membership, the most important of them is that the BRICS countries such as China and Russia seek to create a degree of pluralism in the global economic system, whether in the framework of commercial transactions or financial and monetary institutions. The upcoming BRICS summit will witness the consideration of using a unified currency for its trade exchanges, so that the US dollar will not remain the only monopoly on this matter. The BRICS countries also encourage transactions between them using local currencies, and have already begun to do so.

It is worth noting that in 2014, the BRICS countries established the New Development Bank (NDB) with an initial capital of $50 billion, and some see it as an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In addition, a liquidity mechanism, or the so-called Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA), was created to support members experiencing difficulties with payments.

The New Development Bank of BRICS, as well as the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), represent important steps in offering new development alternatives.

Although Egypt has already joined the two banks, and participated in the framework of previous BRICS meetings in what was known as “BRICS Plus”, the membership of the group will open new horizons for it, both in terms of trade and investment with the BRICS countries, in addition to participating in the new mechanisms related to the use of A unified currency as an alternative to the dollar, or the use of local currencies in commercial transactions, which will relieve pressures related to the demand for the dollar.

BRICS membership will require a great diplomatic effort to obtain the approval of member states to join the group, and there are indications of Egyptian interest at the highest levels in this matter, and communication with China regarding it, which welcomes Egypt’s membership.

Finally, Egypt’s quest to join the BRICS does not mean that it abandons cooperation with its friends from Western countries, or with other financial and monetary institutions. However, the global system is moving rapidly towards pluralism, and putting an end to the monopoly of one country, bloc, or currency in international arrangements and transactions. It is important for Egypt to be part of this trend, and within the framework of expanding its movement in the world, and the alternatives available to it.

Egypt on the way to BRICS membership

The issue of Egypt’s membership in the BRICS is an important and urgent matter, writes Cairo newspaper “Al-Masry Al-Youm”.

BRICS is a group created in 2009 that includes China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa. The BRICS countries represent 42% of the world’s population, 24% of global GDP. They account for 16% of world exports and 15% of world imports of goods and services.

The BRICS group is not an official organization, but the leaders of its five countries meet annually to deepen and strengthen cooperation between it.

South Africa plans to hold the next summit in Durban at the end of August.

Talk of Egypt’s BRICS membership is not new, and a reader of former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheith’s book ‘My Certificates’ finds the roots of this aspiration as part of the expansion of Egypt’s advancement in the world.

However, there has always been a question about the advisability of Egypt joining this group. There are those who are skeptical and believe that the BRICS ‘has not achieved much since its inception,’ that it is ‘just a framework for coordination, and not an economic bloc’ or an international organization ‘in the full sense of the word,’ and that some of its countries are ‘going through difficult circumstances,’ or there is a ‘certain tension or heterogeneity between them.’

They point out that ‘Russia is preoccupied and exhausted by the war in Ukraine,’ that the ‘Chinese economy is still suffering from problems after the coronavirus pandemic,’ while the ‘economies of Brazil and South Africa are experiencing a recession’ and their preoccupation with domestic problems. In addition to border tensions between India and China, there is ‘India’s vision of relations with the West,’ which may differ from both China’s and Russia’s.

My point is that, despite the validity of some of the previous assumptions, the BRICS group has recently undergone a huge transformation, whether on the institutional side or the policy of cooperation.

And that the expansion of BRICS to BRICS+ will in the near future be one of the main gatherings that will contribute to laying the foundations for a new global economic order, the forerunners of which have already begun to take shape, and the consequences of new international balance sheets.

Therefore, the issue of Egypt’s membership in the BRICS is an important and urgent matter. As for the new transformations that are the catalyst for Egypt’s interest in joining the BRICS, the most important of these is that the BRICS countries, such as China and Russia, seek to create a certain degree of pluralism in the global economic system.

At the upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa, the issue of the new composition of the group will be considered. Now, as reported in the press, 19 countries to join. According to the South African delegate in the group, 13 countries have already officially applied for membership, and 6 more countries have expressed their intentions. He added: “We receive requests to join every day.”

Some of these countries belong to our Arab world, for example, Saudi Arabia and Algeria; there is Iran from the Middle East. Other most important countries are Argentina and Mexico.

The upcoming BRICS summit will consider using a common currency for their trade exchanges so that the US dollar does not remain the only monopoly in this matter. The BRICS countries also encourage transactions between themselves in local currencies and have already begun to do so.

It is worth noting that in 2014 the BRICS countries established the New Development Bank (NDB) with an initial capital of $50 billion, and some see it as an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The BRICS New Development Bank, as well as the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), represent important steps in offering new development alternatives.

Although Egypt has already joined two banks and participated in previous BRICS meetings in the so-called “BRICS+”, membership in the group will open up new horizons for it in terms of both trade and investment with the BRICS countries.

Finally, Egypt’s desire to join the BRICS does not mean that it refuses to cooperate with its Western friends or with other financial and monetary institutions.

However, the global system is rapidly moving towards pluralism, putting an end to the monopoly of one country, bloc or currency in international agreements and transactions. It is important for Egypt to be part of this trend, and as part of the expansion of its movement in the world and the alternatives available to it.

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Resources:
https://t.me/BRICSTether/146
https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/2875518
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/05/07/egypt-on-the-way-to-brics-membership/