Interview: China-proposed initiatives essential for BRICS, world economy: Egyptian expert

CAIRO, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Initiatives proposed by China have promoted the strength of BRICS and the world economy, an Egyptian expert has said.

"China's role in boosting BRICS is essential in light of the several initiatives proposed by Beijing in the past few years, including the Belt and Road, Global Development, and Global Security," Mokhtar Ghobashy, deputy chairman of the Cairo-based Arab Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Those initiatives have certainly sped up development and stability in the world and enhanced the strength and pace of the global economy, Ghobashy added.

Over the past 17 years since its establishment, BRICS, an emerging-market grouping that comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has become an all-round and multi-level framework, accounting for some 40 percent of the world population and about a quarter of the global GDP.

As an attractive gathering, more and more countries desire to join BRICS, which signals its economic force, he said.

Moreover, Ghobashy pointed out, most of the countries that officially requested to join BRICS are economic and political powers with regional influence like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

When a country like Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer in the world, bids to join, it will certainly add great momentum to the grouping, he added.

The expert attributes the BRICS bloc's attractiveness to the fact that it provides "unconditional development opportunities for countries."

"Joining the bloc will increase investments and trade exchange between its member states, and the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) could offer soft loans," he said.

He noted that cooperation among BRICS member states is a model to learn from, and many countries are passionate to join it because the gathering does not have geographic barriers, adding that it comprises countries from Asia, Africa, and South America.

The NDB, with an initial authorized capital amounting to 100 billion U.S. dollars, funds development opportunities worldwide, Ghobashy added.