5th BRIC summit South Africa

The 2013 BRICS summit was the fifth annual BRICS summit, an international relations conference attended by the head of states or heads of government of the five member states Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The summit was held in Durban, South Africa in 2013.This completed the first cycle of BRICS summits.South Africas projected outcomes for the Fifth BRICS Summit were achieved.The BRICS Leaders agreed to the establishment of a New Development Bank and indicated that the initial capital contribution to the bank should be substantial and sufficient for the bank to be effective in financing infrastructure.In addition, the Leaders also agreed on the establishment of the contingent reserve arrangement with an initial size of US$100 billion. The CRA would help BRICS countries forestall short-term liquidity pressures and further strengthen financial stability. It would also contribute to strengthening the global financial safety net and complement existing international arrangements as an additional line of defence. In this regard, the BRICS Leaders agreed to review progress made in these two initiatives at the next meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in September 2013.Another outcome of the Summit was the establishment of the BRICS Think Tanks Council and the BRICS Business Council. The BRICS Think Tanks Council will link respective Think Tanks into a network to develop policy options such as the evaluation and future long-term strategy for BRICS. The BRICS Business Council will bring together business associations from each of the BRICS countries and manage engagement between the business communities on an on-going basis. These two new BRICS structures that were initiated under the South African chairpersonship, that is, the BRICS Think Tanks and the BRICS Business Council, will strengthen intra-BRICS cooperation to develop new paradigms for sustainable and inclusive growth models, as well as new learning and knowledge paradigms to deal with our contemporary growth and development challenges.Two Agreements were concluded under auspices of the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism.The BRICS Multilateral Infrastructure Co-Financing Agreement for Africa paves the way for the establishment of co-financing arrangements for infrastructure projects across the African continent.The BRICS Multilateral Cooperation and Co-Financing Agreement for Sustainable Development sets out to explore the establishment of bilateral agreements aimed at establishing cooperation and co-financing arrangements, specifically around sustainable development and green economy elements.BRICS Leaders expressed their commitment to Peace and Security on the African continent. The BRICS Leaders furthermore called upon the United Nations (UN) to enhance cooperation with the AU, and its Peace and Security Council, pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions.Regarding the global economic situation, a strong commitment to foster growth and financial stability was articulated by the BRICS Leaders in order to address unemployment. The Leaders reiterated their position that the reform of the International Monetary Fund should reflect the growing weight of BRICS and other developing countries and that agreement on the quota formula should be completed by January next year. The BRICS Leaders also agreed that the election for the next world Trade Organisation Director General should be a candidate from a developing country.