BRASILIA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- BRICS countries need to pursue strategic business partnerships in key economic sectors to strengthen their relations and energize cooperation, a renowned Brazilian foreign policy expert has said.
Amado Cervo, a professor at the University of Brasilia and author of "History of Brazil's Foreign Policy", expected the 10th BRICS Summit, which kicked off in Johannesburg Wednesday, to focus on new initiatives to promote economic cooperation within the bloc consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Brazil wants to discuss a mechanism to exchange information and explore markets for regional aviation, in addition to cooperation accords related to the environment, sports and digital economy, he said in an interview with Xinhua.
"If BRICS is committed to key areas in the corporate sector, it would unleash great potential," especially given the current rise of protectionism, Cervo said.
The world today is very different from the international scenario that gave rise to BRICS about 10 years ago "because the United States is withdrawing from multilateralism," Cervo said.
However, that has only made BRICS even more relevant, he added.
"It would be extraordinary if BRICS made a strategic decision in terms of trade ties and the creation of strategic companies within the group," Cervo said.
The expert lauded the BRICS decision to open a regional office of its financial arm, the Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB), in Brazil by the end of the year.
"BRICS had valuable, important ideas and the bank was one of them," he said, adding that the bloc needs to complement the NDB's lending and financing role by promoting strategic business partnerships to strengthen its members' economic ties.
The NDB was announced at the sixth BRICS Summit in Brazil in 2014, and opened a year later in Shanghai to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects within the group and in other developing countries.
BRICS countries account for 26 percent of the world's land mass, 46 percent of the world's population, and approximately 23 percent of the global GDP.
