Pretoria- President Jacob Zuma will lead a high-level South African delegation to the Third BRICS Summit to be held in China on 14 and 15 April.
The summit will be held under the theme Broad Vision, Shared Prosperity.
During the Summit, the BRICS Member States (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) will amongst others, focus on international issues of mutual interest; international economic and financial issues; development issues which will include discussions around Climate Change and sustainable development; and the programme of cooperation among BRICS Member States.
South Africa will also participate in the BRICS Business Forum and the BRICS Banking Cooperation Mechanism on the sidelines of the Summit.
"PRC's President Hu Jintao, in his capacity as the BRICS Chairperson, invited on behalf of the other BRIC Member States, South Africa to join the BRICS mechanism and President Zuma to attend the Summit," said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation in a statement on Sunday.
South Africa's participation in the Third BRICS Summit comes within the context of a significant rise by emerging market economies, which have created a diplomatic initiative to serve as a platform for dialogue and cooperation it said.
The purpose is also to advance the restructuring of global governance institutions, notably the global economic and financial architecture into one that is more equitable, balanced and rests on the pillar of multilateralism explained the department.
"President Zuma will use the Third Summit also as an opportunity to convey appreciation for the country's invitation to become a full Member State of BRICS and to articulate the strategic importance South Africa attaches to this partnership as well as to ensure synergy of the BRICS mechanism agenda with the development and economic priorities of Africa such as infrastructure development, minerals beneficiation and value-addition, and agro-processing."
The Summit was preceded by a BRICS Think-Tank Seminar in Beijing held in March this year under the theme Development, Cooperation and Sharing.
An academic delegation from South Africa participated for the first time in the seminar and the country's active contribution in this forum as a new BRICS member was welcomed.
President Zuma will be accompanied by International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel and Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies. -BuaNews
