His Excellency Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Trade Affairs and the UAE Sherpa to BRICS, recently headed the UAE delegation at the second BRICS Sherpa meeting, which was held from April 23 to 26, 2025, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The meeting was held in preparation for the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, scheduled for April 28–29, 2025. During the meeting, members engaged in discussions to draft the Foreign Ministers’ Statement, and discussed key areas of cooperation among the member states.
UAE spotlights stronger collaboration and bilateral ties
In his remarks, the UAE’s Al Hajeri emphasized the importance of achieving tangible economic outcomes that contribute positively to the economies of BRICS countries. His Excellency also commended the cooperation and the commitment of the members of the group to advancing economic collaboration.
On the sidelines of the meetings, Al Hajeri held several bilateral meetings with the Sherpa of Brazil, the host country, as well as with several other countries’ Sherpas to discuss ways of reinforcing collaboration and bilateral ties.
For the first time ever, the BRICS Sherpa meeting included the participation of civil society organizations. With this move, Brazil sought to ensure that proposals from grassroots movements, trade unions and representatives from business, academic and parliamentary sectors would be heard.
Last month, Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio announced the dates of the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and recalled the priorities established by the Brazilian Presidency for the Global South cooperation agenda, highlighting the theme of equity in health.
“We have elected the area of health because it has a particularity that is very important to us, which is the fact that some diseases have higher incidence in developing countries than in the wealthy countries, and these diseases are not necessarily privileged by large global labs in terms of research, innovation and investments. So there is a need for a specific effort by the BRICS in that direction,” Lyrio stated.
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Expanding cooperation in key fields
In February, the UAE participated in the first BRICS Sherpa meeting of 2025, which took place in the Brazilian capital following Brazil’s assumption of the group’s presidency for this year. The meeting focused on discussing the priorities set out by the Brazilian presidency, including expanding cooperation in the fields of health, financing efforts to combat climate change and enhancing trade and investment.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the UAE delegation held a series of bilateral meetings with representatives from Egypt, Russia, Brazil and Ethiopia, with discussions focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation and files of mutual interest.
The UAE’s participation in BRICS meetings underscores its steadfast belief that coordinated joint global action and multilateral cooperation are more important than ever to address global challenges, according to principles aiming to reinforce peace, stability and global prosperity.
