The BRICS mechanism is further deepening the pragmatic and effective cooperation between Global South countries, said international relations experts ahead of the 17th BRICS Summit to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6 to 7.
In January, Indonesia became the first Southeast Asian country to gain full membership in BRICS, following the addition of four other new member states last year. The group's expansion has led to discussions on the future development of its cooperative operations.
Muhammad Habib Abiyan Dzakwan, researcher at the Department of International Relations of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia, said in an online interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that as a new member, Indonesia seeks to carry out in-depth reforms on cooperation mechanism among developing countries.
"I think Indonesia's motivation in joining BRICS is not to replace completely the current order, because to some extent, we also gain benefit from the existing order. What we want, what Indonesia wants, is actually to reform those representative issues or decision-making process that sometimes is too sluggish and that cost a lot of developing progress for developing countries. So these elements, Indonesia wants to reform it, but not to replace it. So as I mentioned earlier, I think Indonesia's (decision to join) BRICS is not to replace it, it is to reform the current existing order. So some of them definitely are worth defending and also preserving, but some others elements such as representation and also the speed of the decision-making process need to be reformed," he said.
Thomas Law, president of the Brazil-China Sociocultural Institute (Ibrachina), said that BRICS is a special platform that can incorporate the voices of the Global South in discussions and decision-making at the global level.
"In my opinion, Brazil has its own diplomatic relations with all countries and of course with China, a great trading partner for more than 14 years in consecutive. Last year we had the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Brazil and China. So in my opinion, BRICS is a special platform for big discussions such as global governance and multilateralism. So if these countries, all of them, be a new voice, they can represent this Global South and Brazil will be part of it. And in my opinion, Brazil is now leading also this integration of Latin American countries. So of course China did a big investment in the port of Chancay in Peru. And this is important because Brazil of course has a big coast, has the port of Santos that is the biggest port of Brazil, but indeed many politics, governors of other states are willing to make this new infrastructure through Brazil to Peru. So this is a quite special objective, special importance regarding Latin America studies and Latin America countries," Law said.
BRICS mechanism further deepens Global South cooperation: experts
