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“Comprehensive deliberations” at BRICS Trade Ministers meet
October 13, 2016, 7:56 am

6th BRICS Trade Ministers meet in New Delhi, India on 13 October 2016 [Image: Commerce Ministry, India]

6th BRICS Trade Ministers meet in New Delhi, India on 13 October 2016 [Image: Commerce Ministry, India]

At a key meeting of the BRICS Trade Ministers in New Delhi on Thursday, comprehensive deliberations were held on cooperation in key economic sectors, the Indian Commerce Ministry said.

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hosted her BRICS counterparts: Russia’s Denis Manturov, China’s Vice Minister for Commerce and Finance Wang Shouwen, South Africa’s Trade Minister Rob Davies and Brazil’s Foreign Trade Minister Marcos Pereira.

A joint communique said the BRICS Trade Ministers endorsed the “Framework for BRICS Single Window Cooperation”.

The group expressed concern at the “continued slowdown in global growth and depressed global demand, low commodity and oil prices;  new shocks to the global economy, including Brexit”.

The meet focused on boosting the “BRICS economic partnership” and greater business engagement among the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the BRICS region, the official statement said.

All five trade ministers held a flurry of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event.

The first BRICS Trade Fair opened in New Delhi on Wednesday where 397 companies from the five-member bloc, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, are in attendance.

The BRICS Trade fair is being organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Indian government.

Industry leaders from the five countries also participated in a stock-taking session during a BRICS Business forum meet in the Indian capital on Thursday morning.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host his BRICS counterparts: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Jacob Zuma and Brazilian President Michel Temer in the southern state of Goa during the annual BRICS Summit on 15-16 October.

BRICS nations’ average economic growth was seen to be 5.1 per cent this year, which overshadowed the 3.1 per cent for the world, Indian Central Bank chief Urijit Patel said at a BRICS event in the Indian city of Mumbai on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the IMF has maintained its forecast for weak global growth.

In the latest update of its World Economic Outlook, the IMF said that a drop in US growth for 2016 due to a weak first-half performance would be offset by strengthening in Japan, Germany, Russia, India and some other emerging markets.

The Fund kept its overall global growth forecasts unchanged at 3.1 per cent for 2016 and 3.4 per cent for 2017 after cutting its outlook for five straight quarters.

 

TBP