Why the reservations about BRICS? If BRICS is nothing, why are Mexico, Turkey and Indonesia, among others, so eager to join?
Many South African observers are tepid at best and scathing at worst about the ‘S' in BRICS. I believe they are wrong and I reject the inferiority complex that talks us down. The admission to the BRIC grouping was a significant foreign policy achievement. We need now to make the most of the political and economic possibilities it offers.
It is correct that South Africa's economy is smaller than the other four. But why should that exclude us? If the other members saw fit to invite South Africa to join then it must surely indicate that they saw our country as adding something to the totality. If they wanted us, why should we continually doubt why we are there?
We are the biggest economy on the African continent and we are the largest African investor, by far, in other African countries. There are other aspirants for the title of ‘Gateway to Africa.' None of them has succeeded in supplanting us and if we play our cards correctly, we will continue being the gateway to Africa, perhaps in a co-operative relationship with other countries that enjoy advantages of language or proximity. That will be the key to a success for South Africa as a member of BRICS.
BRICS offers both political and economic advantages.
Politically, the BRICS grouping is increasingly significant in world forums like the UN Security Council and many others. An insistence on the developing world being heard must lend impetus to calls for the restructuring of world bodies to reflect the world as it is rather than as it was.
Each of the members has national interests and imperatives. We will not always see eye-to-eye on political or economic questions; nor should we. For our country, the relationship with Europe and the negotiation of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) is vital. Likewise, our relationship with the USA and the importance to us of AGOA, giving tariff-free access to American markets, means that we will not and cannot afford to abandon those ties.
To put matters in perspective, China's trade with the USA is worth $465billion and with the EU countries it is $567 billion. In both cases, China enjoys a huge and growing trade balance in its favour. China's trade with South Africa is $45 billion, also with a large imbalance in China's favour. South Africa's trade with the United States is smaller than that with China, at $22 billion, but the important difference is that here the balance is $2.2 billion in South Africa's favour.
These trade facts should help to ensure a relationship based on realities and not on wishful thinking. It cannot be based on ‘either/or;' it will be based on ‘both/and.'
The wall to wall coverage of the meeting of leaders in Durban served to underline the fact that the leaders of 40per cent of the world population and 25 per cent of the world economy thought it important enough to attend. If it was a nothing, the presidents of China, Russia and Brazil and the prime minister of India would not have found the time to attend. The plethora of deals signed and contemplated still must be analysed and implemented but the next meeting of the leaders in September will have as one of its objectives a progress report and a review of what has been achieved.
Meanwhile, business and government should focus on what can be leveraged from our membership of BRICS. We need to become keen exporters of goods that other countries need. It is up to us to determine where the niche markets are or can be created. And then we need to make the goods and sell them. Surely we can rise to that challenge?
Douglas Gibson is former Opposition Chief Whip and ambassador to Thailand. He can be followed on Twitter @dhmgibson
This article first appeared in The New Age.
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