President Jacob Zuma will lead the South African delegation at the seventh BRICS summit to be held in Russia on Wednesday and Thursday next week‚ at which several agreements deepening the relationship between BRICS member states will be signed‚ says Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

The five member states are Brazil‚ Russia‚ India‚ China and South Africa. The theme for the summit is “BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development”.

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said a number of meetings will be held in the run-up to the summit. These include:

• The BRICS Business Council and its Working Groups will meet in Moscow on 06 July 2015 and then proceed to Ufa for a meeting with the BRICS Leaders on 09 July 2015.

• The BRICS Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors will meet in Moscow prior to the Summit on 07 July 2015;

• The first meeting of the BRICS Board of Governors of the New Development Bank will also take place in Moscow‚ on 07 July 2015;

• The BRICS Ministers of Trade and Industry will meet in Moscow on 07 July 2015;

“It is expected that‚ during the Summit‚ the Leaders will also receive feedback following their meeting on the margins of the G20 Summit in Brisbane on 15 November 2014‚ at which they asked their Finance Ministers to designate the President and Vice-Presidents of the New Development Bank‚ in advance of the next Summit.

“The Leaders also asked the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to ensure that‚ by the next Summit‚ the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) Working Group concludes the procedural rules and operational guidelines of the Governing Council and Standing Committee of the CRA‚ and to conclude an Inter-Central Bank Agreement.

“The Leaders will also be informed of the status of ratification process within each BRICS Country of the New Development Bank (NDB) Agreement and CRA Treaty‚” Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said.

She added that on 17 June 2015 and 18 June 2015 respectively‚ the South African National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces had ratified the Agreement and Treaty and necessary Instruments of Ratification and Acceptance had also been signed.

“The first meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank will take place in Moscow on 07 July 2015‚ prior to the VII BRICS Summit‚ and the Board is expected to report to the BRICS Leaders on the steps taken to operationalise the Bank.

“The Leaders are also expected to adopt the key Summit outcome documents‚ namely the Ufa Declaration and the Ufa Action Plan‚ which will reflect the views of BRICS member states on a number of international issues‚ and the Action Plan will spell out the areas of cooperation and meetings which will be held during the chairpersonship of the Russian Federation.

“The Leaders will also witness the signing of various agreements which indicate a deepening of the BRICS relationship‚” the minister said.

She added that in keeping with the tradition of an “outreach meeting” initiated by South Africa when it hosted the Fifth BRICS Summit‚ and continued by Brazil at the Sixth Summit‚ Russian President Vladimir Putin had arranged a meeting between the BRICS leaders and the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)‚ Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and other invited leaders.

“This outreach meeting is with eleven leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO- i.e. permanent members inclusive of BRICS members and the following: China‚ Kazakhstan‚ Kyrgyzstan‚ Tajikistan‚ Uzbekistan and observers‚ which are Afghanistan‚ Iran‚ Mongolia and Pakistan) and Eurasian Economic Union (EEU- Russia‚ Belarus‚ Kazakhstan‚ Armenia) and other invited states (the Leaders of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan). This outreach will take place on 09 July 2015.”