S. African envoy says Malaysia’s Brics membership will make bloc more inclusive
29 Jul 2024
South Africa, like Russia and other key fast-developing countries, is keen for Malaysia to join Brics soon, given Putrajaya’s strong and consistent stand in supporting the interests of developing nations on major international matters.
South Africa’s High Commissioner to Malaysia Dave Malcomson said as a proponent of the South-South movement, Malaysia’s role in Brics would be further enhanced as 2025 Asean chair and with its prominence in the Non-Aligned Movement as well as Organisation of Islamic Conference countries.
He said with South Africa itself holding the G20 presidency, both countries could lead other nations in taking a collective stance in areas such as reforming institutions of global governance and propagating the interests of developing countries.
“There’s definitely a lot of work that Malaysia and South Africa can do together, which is why the more representative and inclusive Brics is, the better it is,” he said on Bernama TV last week.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that Malaysia has sent an application to the grouping’s current president, which is Russia, to join Brics.
Malcomson said the media has a narrative that some countries might not be too happy with Malaysia joining Brics.
“I don’t necessarily stand by that myself,” he said.
“Brics is not against anything (and) we’ve not been set up to counter anything. We are not in the business of making binary choices of either with us or against us. We can be friends with all.
“But as long as we maintain a strong strategic relationship with all our partners, be it the United States or the European Union, we don’t foresee an issue.”
Brics not about de-dollarisation
Malaysia must be careful not to buy into such a media hype, which also includes the much-talked about the untrue narrative linking Brics to de-dollarisation, he said.
“You won’t find the word ‘de-dollarisation’ in the Brics document,” he said.
When the Brics New Development Bank was set up, he said, its first president did a study on loans for infrastructure projects over the long term.
The study revealed that borrowers were paying a major proportion of the costs servicing their (currency) fluctuations relative to the value of the United States dollar because the loans were dollar-based.
They were paying for the appreciation of the dollar versus their own currencies rather than purely paying back the cost of the loan.
The United States currency has been appreciating sharply against regional currencies in recent years, no thanks to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to combat inflation.
This has raised the costs of imports and loans which are transacted or denominated in the greenback.
“What we’ve tried to do in Brics, particularly through the New Development Bank, is raise local bonds so we use our national currencies to service loans as well to pay for trade and investments.”
Joining forces to tackle global issues
He said it is not really a new idea, as the former Soviet Union and India used to trade in their own national currencies.
This was an idea Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had been alluding to within Asean.
If Southeast Asian economies were to use their national currencies, it would be to their own advantage as it would lower the risk of currency fluctuations.
They could also join forces in the ongoing debate on climate change, dealing with pandemics and international health crises, and cross-border crime.
These are issues which cannot be dealt with individually but collectively, Malcomson said.
Besides Malaysia’s impending inclusion, Thailand has applied to join Brics, while other Asean countries have shown interest in the bloc.
He said Brics could also help move forward the Indian Ocean Rim Association, which aims to strengthen regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean region, of which Malaysia is a part.
Anwar has expressed keen interest for Malaysia to join Brics, whose original members were Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2009, and South Africa in 2010.
Anwar said Malaysia’s priority in joining up is to reinforce trade and investment relations and expand its business linkages globally, a move designed to benefit traders, investors and the business community.
Brics won’t shift global power away from West
One of the advantages of Brics is that countries can make collective decisions on key issues of the day ahead of big meetings such as in the United Nations, Malcomson said.
“If it does join Brics, we can work with Malaysia to develop some common positions in reforming the international financial and political architecture,” he said.
He also said global institutions like the United Nations must reflect the shift in global power as there are new economic powers and new political powers.
As for traditional western powers, Malcomson questioned why they should be the ones leading global change and setting the rules.
“Brics has just been an after-reflection of that change (and) I don’t think that it’s necessarily been the driving force of that change (as) that has been happening anyway.
“We don’t see Brics shifting global power away from western countries,” he said.
Brics’ other members include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Anwar had said that cumulatively, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Brics amounted to US$26.6 trillion (RM123.4 trillion), which is 26.2 per cent of the world’s GDP — almost the same as the economic strength of the G7 — and Brics comprises 3.54 billion people, or 45 per cent, of the world’s population, so it makes economic sense for Malaysia to join up.
Source: Bernama
