The expansion of the BRICS bloc, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, will allow emerging countries to no longer be treated as inferior, but on equal terms, the president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, said.
“It must be said: we are the Global South. We no longer accept being treated as inferior, but on equal terms. And Brazil has an extraordinary opportunity with the energy transition,” Lula said during a Banco do Nordeste event in Fortaleza.
During the most recent BRICS summit held in South Africa, the economic bloc approved the entry of Argentina, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia, who will officially join this group as of January 1, 2024.
In a broadcast on social networks on August 30, Lula da Silva recalled the decision to expand the BRICS bloc and assured that “the world will not be the same after this decision, at least in global economic discussions.”
“Now the BRICS is stronger than the G7. In 1995, the G7 countries had a 45% share of world GDP by purchasing power parity, and the BRICS had a 16% share. Now the BRICS has 32% and the G7 has 29%,” Lula said.
Lula has also insisted on the need for this alliance of emerging economies to be able to carry out its commercial activities and transactions in a single currency, since that would reduce vulnerabilities and allow a process of de-dollarization.
