Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah led today the Kingdom’s delegation to the BRICS Plus Summit 2024, held in Kazan, Russia, as an invited country to join the BRICS group, on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
During the summit, Prince Faisal delivered a speech conveying the greetings of King Salman and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
Saudi-BRICS bilateral trade exceeds $196 billion
Prince Faisal highlighted the growing relations between Saudi Arabia and BRICS members, noting that the volume of bilateral trade with BRICS countries exceeded $196 billion in 2023, accounting for 37 percent of the Kingdom’s total foreign trade. He emphasized that the summit provides an opportunity to enhance cooperation with BRICS countries, address global challenges, and support sustainable development.
On international issues, Prince Faisal expressed Saudi Arabia’s concern over escalating global tensions, stating: “At a time when we most need to confront global challenges, we witness rising tensions, polarization, and alignments that weaken the flexibility and effectiveness of multilateral forums. The Kingdom supports strengthening international institutions to meet the needs of all countries.”
Greater partnerships with BRICS countries
In addition, Prince Faisal affirmed that Saudi Arabia will continue to strengthen its partnerships with BRICS countries and expand avenues of cooperation in all fields in pursuit of global development and prosperity.
Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Russia, Abdulrahman bin Sulaiman Al-Ahmad, the director general of the Office of His Highness the Foreign Minister, Abdulrahman Aldawood, the Director General of International Organizations, Shaher Al-Khonaini, and Mohammed Alyahya, the Advisor to the Foreign Minister, also attended the BRICS Summit.
BRICS Plus Summit
The BRICS Plus Summit featured nations that are not BRICS members but are interested in strengthening their ties with the economic bloc. The BRICS organizing committee announced that 36 countries will attend the meeting, with 22 represented by heads of state.
Leaders from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, as well as representatives of several international organizations, attended the meeting. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin scheduled several bilateral meetings, including with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Putin also held a news conference to conclude the three-day summit on Thursday.
Read: UAE President engages with world leaders on trade and development at BRICS Summit
Kazan Summit Declaration
On Wednesday, the BRICS leaders adopted the ‘Kazan Summit Declaration’, which summarized the summit’s outcome and Russia’s term as BRICS chair.
The declaration reiterated member countries’ commitment to strengthening cooperation under the three pillars of political and security, economic and financial, cultural and people-to-people cooperation.
The member countries also committed to enhancing their strategic partnership for the benefit of the people through the promotion of peace, a more representative, fairer international order, a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system, sustainable development, and inclusive growth.
On financial reform, the declaration stated: “We underscore the need to reform the current international financial architecture to meet the global financial challenges including global economic governance to make the international financial architecture more inclusive and just.”
The countries also welcomed Russia’s initiative to establish a grain trading platform within BRICS and to subsequently develop it including expanding it to other agricultural sectors.
“We recognise the widespread benefits of faster, low cost, more efficient, transparent, safe, and inclusive cross-border payment instruments built upon the principle of minimizing trade barriers and non-discriminatory access. We welcome the use of local currencies in financial transactions between BRICS countries and their trading partners,” the declaration added.
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