What does the BRICS presidency mean for Brazil?

CGTN Europe spoke to Maria Herminia Tavares de Almeida, Emerita Professor of Political Science at the University of São Paulo.

Transcript

00:00That is very important to Brazil because it embodies some of the utmost commitments of

00:08the Brazilian foreign policy that is the commitment to multilateralism and multilateral arrangements.

00:18Brazil has hosted the G20 last year and will host the United Nations Climate Conference

00:26in 2025.

00:29So having the presidency of the BRICS continues, embodies this kind of commitment of Brazil

00:39to multilateralism.

00:42And during Brazil's presidency, special attention is expected to be paid to climate change,

00:48sustainable development and the regulation of artificial intelligence.

00:51So how do these priorities resonate with the broader goals of BRICS?

00:57I think they are important questions and they are not only Brazilian questions.

01:05Having some mechanism to solve the problem of funding energy transition is a problem

01:14that is not only a Brazilian problem.

01:18Also having some kind of governance of artificial intelligence, I think it's a shared problem

01:29to all countries, especially to countries in the developing world.

01:35And also the issues of how to think about the reform of the international financial

01:48institutions and how to finance trade, how to use currencies, not only dollar, to finance

02:01our trade relations.

02:03I think it's also a problem that involves all the developing world.

02:12And I think Brazil is very comfortable with these priorities.

02:17What are Brazil's plans for integrating new BRICS members such as Iran, UAE and Ethiopia?

02:22Do you think that's going to impact the cohesion of the group?

02:27Well, I think that Brazil has a very cautious position regarding enlarging the BRICS.

02:36First of all, because the country is worried about bloating the coalition, bloating BRICS

02:48and therefore losing some kind of coherence.

02:54And so Brazil prefers to go very slowly in the incorporation of new members.

03:05Brazil has discussed in the last meeting in Kazan some kind of participation like a partner

03:15of the BRICS but not as a full member.

03:19And generally Brazil favours a very cautious process of enlargement.