“BRICS is a transformative force toward economic cooperation between countries,” argues Brazilian Ambassador

In an exclusive interview, Ambassador Tatiana Rosito clarifies the main items of the BRICS economic and financial agenda and highlights the importance of the moment in which Brasil assumes the group’s presidency

By Thayara Martins | thayara.martins@presidencia.gov.br

From the impacts of Artificial Intelligence on global financial stability and the convergence among Global South countries for the discussions at COP30 (UN Climate Change Conference), which will take place in Brasil in November, to the importance of expanding the dialog with civil society to strengthening BRICS institutions.

These are some of the themes that Ambassador Tatiana Rosito —secretary of International Affairs at Brasil’s Ministry of Finance (Ministério da Fazenda/MF) —  highlighted as part of the BRICS Brasil’s agenda on the economy and finance during an exclusive interview. Rosito also spoke about the use of local currencies in commercial transactions among the group countries and the importance of the New Development Bank (NDB) to the Global South economies. 

BRICS Partnership for a New Industrial Revolution

The Partnership touches upon key elements for BRICS such as the use of Artificial Intelligence and information security, one of the general priorities of the Brazilian Presidency. It also finds ramifications, for example, in the work that will be developed to dialog and deepen the knowledge about the impacts of Artificial Intelligence on global financial stability. These new technologies present us with opportunities to build payment systems that can be more integrated, for example, and have fewer barriers and lower costs to further facilitate trade and investment among the countries.

Climate financing 

The Brazilian Presidency proposed that BRICS discuss new instruments to expand climate finance, and also that BRICS engage in dialogue to converge towards COP30 — which will be held in Brasil in November. It is estimated that the world must invest trillions to transition, decarbonize, and reach Net Zero (a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions) by 2050 — and many of these trillions will be invested in developing countries, where the energy transition is essential to continued economic growth.

This requires the mobilization of more financing. Many of these new investments depend on a more positive combination of private, public, and concessional resources. Much of what we call blended finance is finance that combines resources from the public sector, private investments, multilateral banks, funds focused on climate financing and philanthropy. We will continue to support the development of these instruments, notably for resilient infrastructure that is capable of enabling our countries to survive with less damage to their territories and their populations.

We are also bringing to the discussion the creation of new guarantee instruments, a BRICS multilateral guarantee instrument for long-term investments in the energy transition and ecological transformation. Another priority led by Brasil’s Banco Central has to do with increasing the understanding of the impacts of climate risks on global financial systems and, in particular, on national systems. In terms of climate financing, one of the major deliverables planned for COP30 is the Baku-Belém roadmap for the mobilization of USD 1.3 trillion in public and private resources, mainly from developed countries, to support developing countries in the climate transition. We will strive to build convergences among the BRICS members to support this COP effort.

Trade in local currencies in BRICS countries

Trade in local currencies is already happening. For example, between Brasil and China, it already happens. From the Brazilian standpoint, there are no impediments. In general, the use of local currencies is more difficult due to cost issues. It is much easier to use the main currencies that have more liquidity in the market. So, one of the goals of BRICS is to increase the use of local currencies where this can reduce costs and is beneficial to the BRICS countries, and that is positive for importers and exporters. This is also an objective pursued by the New Development Bank, which has the goal in its strategy of having up to 30% of its financing in local currencies. This is something that is already underway and is gradually expanding.

Role of the New Development Bank

The BRICS Bank is certainly one of the main concrete results of cooperation among the BRICS countries. It symbolizes BRICS' desire to actively participate in the transformation of the economic and financial order and to contribute to making it more inclusive and taking into account the interests of these countries. The BRICS Bank is a Global South countries bank for other emerging countries. It uses local legislation and the countries’ demands to guide its investments  —demand-driven, as we call it— which is based not only on the banks' own rules but also has the countries' legislations as one of its main elements. In the case of social and environmental legislation, for example, it respects the legislation of each country, unlike traditional institutions that often have their own rules. it is an institution that is part of the broader family of multilateral development banks (MDBs), but that also intends to contribute to the vision of a new development bank, It allows countries to build synergies and to understand —because they are the main shareholders of the banks— that the specific challenges of these countries and their policies can be better taken into account when exercising financing, and that it can increasingly be a transformative agent in favor of the development of these nations.

Open dialog with civil society

Promoting dialogue with civil society is very important — and not merely informing it of the debates held in the governmental context. We will actively promote this dialogue through some virtual meetings that the Ministry of Finance and Banco Central will hold with civil society. We believe that this strengthens BRICS, the Brazilian Presidency’s agenda, and the role of BRICS as a transformative force at a time when multilateralism is often under attack. It is worth emphasizing that the Brazilian BRICS Presidency is taking place at a time when the group has expanded. This is the first time all countries of the expanded BRICS will participate in all the planned technical meetings. It is a moment to strengthen BRICS as a platform for dialogue, consultation, and cooperation that defends multilateralism. A platform that does not antagonize any group. Therefore, promoting this space is fundamental as it helps to build this narrative of an expanded and strengthened BRICS as a transformative force.