On February 15, a press conference of the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Women's Business Alliance was held at the Rossiyskaya Gazeta media center.
President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Katyrin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov, and Chairman of the Russian part of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance Anna Nesterova told participants about the work plan on various tracks for the period of the Russian chairmanship of BRICS in 2024.
The year of chairmanship began with the accession of new members to the organization: following the results of the 2023 summit, a decision was made to invite Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the chairman of the Russian part of the BRICS Business Council spoke about the key tasks that the formation faces for the current year.
“More than 20 events are planned through the Business Council. In addition, a dozen more events will be held under our patronage. The most important task: to include in the work of the BRICS Business Council, including in the working groups, those countries that joined the association this year,” said Sergei Katyrin.
He said that the share of the BRICS countries in the trade balance of the Russian Federation was about 40% in 2023, “and in recent years there has been good growth dynamics: in 2021 this share was at 20%, in 2022 – 30%.”
Mr. Katyrin added that now the BRICS countries already conduct 85% of their mutual settlements in national currencies, and the working group on finance of the BRICS Business Council is discussing the issue of settlements in digital units.
“We have a digital ruble, the Chinese have a digital yuan. At the last meeting, Brazil and India announced that they were finalizing their digital units. And, naturally, there were wishes not to depend on any third countries in our mutual settlements, to use digital currencies,” he clarified. He also called the issues of regulating credit ratings topical and did not rule out discussing issues related to the safety of using artificial intelligence.
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov noted that BRICS has taken place and has become an integral element of the international architecture and an important link in the formation of a multipolar world. The diplomat also pointed to a new direction for the development of BRICS - the formation of a modality for the category of partner states.
“This new model is designed to respond to the growing interest of friendly, like-minded states around the world in developing cooperation with BRICS and rapprochement with this association,” he emphasized.
The Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation recalled that the BRICS summit will be held in October in Kazan, and in June there will be a meeting of foreign ministers in Nizhny Novgorod.
Chairman of the Russian part of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance, founder of the Palekh Watch manufactory Anna Nesterova announced the events of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance.
Representatives of the Alliance also spoke at the event: curator of the working group on healthcare Lyudmila Shcherbakova, curator of the working group on food and environmental security Elena Chashchina, curator of the working group on inclusive economy Galina Volkova.
Meetings of the Press Club of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on BRICS topics are planned to be held monthly.
By Nail Shakhvaliev,
Press Service of the Chamber
