BRICS to establish a 'geological platform'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Mar 21:09
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High raking officials Russian and South African officials discussed the prospect of establishing a “geological platform” for BRICS, the Russian Natural Resources Ministry said.

China's President Xi Jinping, left, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, second from left, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, center, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, second from right, and South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa leave after a meeting with members of the Business Council and management of the New Development Bank during the BRICS emerging economies at the Itamaraty palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019 (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, Pool)'

High-raking Russian and South African officials discussed the prospect of establishing a “geological platform” for BRICS, the Russian Natural Resources Ministry said.

"Alexander Kozlov, the minister of natural resources and environment of the Russian Federation, met with Mosa Mabuza, the chief executive officer of the Council of Geoscience of South Africa. The main topic of the discussion was establishing a 'geological platform' of the BRICS member states," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, the platform will allow the BRICS member states to coordinate in regard to their mineral reserves and extraction methods in light of the increasing demand for natural resources.

Read more: South Africa: BRICS mulling new payment system to ditch dollar control

Meetings between geological experts of the BRICS nations will serve as the first stage for developing the platform; after which a memorandum will be adopted, according to the Russian ministry’s statement.

Kozlov added that the geological platform will be addressed in detail on March 30 during the meeting of the Russia-South Africa Intergovernmental Commission.

BRICS members account for 30% of the global gross output and 40% of the global population. The bloc includes the world's major developing countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It was also announced, recently, that a handful of medium-sized economies intend to join the bloc: Argentina, Algeria Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Last week, Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs Ehsan Khandozi told Sputnik that Tehran appreciates the importance of developing cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS, as the regional blocs will play a key role in the global economy in the coming decades.

The minister also expressed hope that Iran's membership would result in "added values" for both sides.

Back in February, the Russian Foreign minister said that Algeria is one of the main prospects for BRICS membership.

Algeria presented its formal application to join the BRICS earlier in November 2022. In December, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the Algerian president, expressed optimism that his country may join the alliance in 2023.