BRICS Should Consider Creating a Free Trade Area for Its Members, NDRC Official Says
Xu Wei
DATE:  Sep 01 2017
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
BRICS Should Consider Creating a Free Trade Area for Its Members, NDRC Official Says BRICS Should Consider Creating a Free Trade Area for Its Members, NDRC Official Says

(Yicai Global) Sept. 1 -- BRICS, the association of five major emerging and developing economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, should strengthen its open cooperation and further consider the feasibility of establishing a BRICS Free Trade Area (FTA), said Ye Fujing, director general of the Institute for International Economic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

BRICS members have achieved significant results by working together and have made great progress in the field of interconnectivity and other areas in the past ten years, Ye said at a briefing on their financial collaboration. Their cooperation has just entered its second "golden decade," but BRICS nations face internal and external challenges, he said.

Ye expects BRICS countries will strengthen ties in six areas and jointly address global development issues:

Firstly, they should jointly promote innovation and look into creating alliances and technology trading platforms.

Secondly, the BRICS members should improve their openness and formulate and implement a road map for trade, economic and investment cooperation before 2020. They can mull the creation of mutually beneficial trade and investment arrangements and should reduce tariffs and barriers based on World Trade Organization commitments and further consider the feasibility of establishing an BRICS FTA.

Thirdly, the BRICS countries should implement economic partnership strategies and work more closely in key areas such as capacity and energy cooperation. They can contemplate introducing milestone cooperation projects. In the process of realizing the economic partnership strategy, they can draw on the experience of the G20 Hangzhou Summit and use an index system to gauge and supervise implementation.

Fourthly, BRICS members should up the links in their development strategies. China is forming a new pattern of opening up with the Belt and Road. In the framework of BRICS mechanisms, members can promote the links between the Belt and Road initiative and the development strategies of BRICS countries to jointly promote trade, financial circulation and cultural exchange.

Fifthly, they should seize opportunities to work together in emerging areas.

Sixthly, they should expand the scope of beneficial cooperation.

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Keywords:   BRICS,NDRC,Free Trade Area