KAZAN: The BRICS nations, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, have significantly contributed to global economic growth and are actively reshaping the financial landscape, according to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Speaking at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, President Lula emphasized the bloc’s collective economic strength, which includes a 36% share of global GDP by purchasing power parity and control over vast natural resources.

According to Trend News Agency, President Lula highlighted the economic power of the BRICS nations, which encompass over 3.6 billion people and dynamic markets with high social mobility. He pointed out the bloc’s substantial natural resources, including 72% of the planet’s rare earths, 75% of the world’s manganese, and 50% of its graphite. Despite these assets, Lula criticized the current global financial system, which he described as disproportionately favoring wealthy nations, likening it to a “reverse Marshall Plan.”

President Lula underscored
the initiatives and institutions within BRICS that aim to counteract this inequality. He praised the BRICS Business Council for its role in expanding intra-bloc trade, noting that Brazil’s exports to fellow BRICS countries have increased twelvefold from 2003 to 2023. Furthermore, BRICS now accounts for nearly one-third of Brazil’s imports.

The president also mentioned the Interbank Cooperation Mechanism, which enables national development banks to establish credit lines in local currencies, thereby lowering transaction costs for small and medium-sized enterprises. Lula reiterated the importance of BRICS in creating a fairer global economic system, emphasizing that the bloc’s initiatives provide an alternative to financial systems traditionally benefiting the wealthiest nations.