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RBI chief hard sells UPI at G20 TechSprint

New Delhi, Jan 06 (ANI): Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das speaks on South Asia's path to resilient growth at a conference organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI Photo)

Governor Das highlighted the rapid expansion of digital technologies in India over recent years, citing their transformative impact on the country’s financial system…reports Asian Lite News

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has revolutionized India’s digital payment ecosystem and played a pivotal role in driving financial inclusion by bringing millions of unbanked individuals into the formal financial system, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das here on Monday.

The RBI Governor was delivering the keynote address at the Grand Finale of the G20 TechSprint 2023 here.

Das said, “A landmark example of our commitment to innovation is the UPI, which has been a game changer for India’s Digital payment ecosystem. It has helped to drive financial inclusion by bringing millions of unbanked individuals into the formal financial system”.

Governor Das shared that in August 2023, the total number of transactions on the UPI platform exceeded an impressive 10 billion transactions, solidifying its position as the backbone of digital payments in India. He further noted that more than 70 mobile apps and over 50 million merchants across India now accept UPI payments.

In his address, Das commended India’s thriving startup ecosystem, its vibrant talent pool, and the unwavering commitment to digital transformation. India, he emphasized, is focusing on leveraging technology to bridge gaps, empower individuals, and promote financial inclusion.

The RBI Governor said, “TechSprint 2023 resonates profoundly with India’s commitment to innovation. With its robust startup ecosystem, vibrant talent pool and unwavering commitment to digital transformation, India is now focusing on the way technology can be harnessed to bridge gaps, empower individuals and promote financial inclusions”.

Governor Das highlighted the rapid expansion of digital technologies in India over recent years, citing their transformative impact on the country’s financial system.

He noted that India’s robust digital public infrastructure, including Aadhaar, affordable internet access, and widespread mobile phone services, has enabled more people, regardless of their location or social status, to access financial services.

“The past few years have seen rapid expansion of digital technologies in India having a transformative impact on our financial system. Today more and more people have access to financial services regardless of their location or social status weighing to the robust digital public infrastructure like AADHAR, affordable internet and mobile phone services”, said Das.

The Governor emphasized that India’s journey embodies innovation with a human touch, spanning financial inclusion, digital payments, and the use of artificial intelligence for credit assessments.

The Reserve Bank of India is committed to promoting responsive innovation and has taken strategic steps in this direction, including the establishment of the Fintech Department within the RBI to manage the evolving fintech sector and the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, a wholly-owned subsidiary engaged in technology-based projects aimed at benefiting the masses.

“At the Reserve Bank we are committed to promoting responsive innovation, as a part of this we have taken a few strategic steps in the recent past. On the institutional front we have set up the Fintech Department within the reserve bank with the objective of paying dedicated attention to the fast-evolving fintech sector”, said Das.

Governor stated, “The mandate of this department is to promote innovation while managing the associated risk if any. Similarly, we have set up the reserve bank innovation hub as a wholely owned subsidiary which is currently engaged in several technology-based projects touching the people at the bottom of the pyramid.”

Under India’s G20 Presidency, the RBI and the BIS Innovation Hub have jointly launched the G20 TechSprint, a global technology competition focused on improving cross-border payments.

This year’s edition, the fourth in the series, seeks innovative solutions for three problem statements: addressing illicit finance risks through AML/CFT/Sanctions technology, enabling settlement in emerging market and developing economy (EMDE) currencies, and developing technology solutions for multilateral cross-border CBDC platforms.

Efficient cross-border payments are vital for enhancing economic cooperation and activities between countries, and the G20 TechSprint aims to demonstrate how technology can address challenges in this domain, foster innovation, and promote seamless payments across borders while preserving financial integrity. (ANI)

ALSO READ-RBI Governor meets World Bank President during G20 meet

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Inflation is on track to come down, says Hunt

Hunt and Sunak are keen for voters to start feeling more optimistic about the economy as the country heads for an election expected next year, with the opposition Labour Party currently far ahead in the polls…reports Asian Lite News

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said inflation was on track to halve by the end of 2023, vowing to focus on the goal as he laid out his priorities ahead of the reopening of parliament after the summer break.

Britain’s inflation rate is forecast to fall to about 5% by the end of the year – half January’s level – and meeting the target would mean one of the five key pledges Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made to voters for 2023 would be met.

Hunt said in a statement pressure on household budgets would start to ease as inflation cools. He also highlighted his efforts to increase productivity in the public sector to boost growth.

Hunt and Sunak are keen for voters to start feeling more optimistic about the economy as the country heads for an election expected next year, with the opposition Labour Party currently far ahead in the polls.

“We are on track to halve inflation this year and by sticking to our plan we will ease the pressure on families and businesses alike,” Hunt said, ahead of lawmakers returning to parliament on Monday.

For July, Britain’s annual consumer price inflation rate cooled to 6.8% – still the highest rate among the Group of Seven economies.

“I do think we may see a blip in inflation in September but after that the Bank of England is saying it will fall down to around 5%,” Hunt told the BBC on Sunday.

The BoE has forecast inflation falling to 4.9% by the end of this year – a faster decline than it had predicted in May.

Hunt’s continued focus on inflation will disappoint some lawmakers from within the ruling Conservative Party who have called for tax cuts before the election, angry that British tax revenues are the highest as a share of the economy since the 1940s.

Revised economic data published on Friday provided a welcome boost to the government as it showed the economy recovered faster from the pandemic than previously thought.

ALSO READ-Core inflation in UK has begun to fall in past 2 months, says ONS

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Economy India News

G20: India’s Journey To A Developed Economy

India assumed the G20 Presidency with an opportunity to bring more focus on the issues of critical global importance being the fastest-growing major economy among the leading economies…reports Asian Lite News

With the global economy facing uncertainty and instability in recent years vis-à-vis geopolitical developments, the role of the G20, as a platform connecting the world’s major developed and emerging economies, assumes greater significance in shaping the global trends.

India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1 last year with an opportunity to bring more focus on the issues of critical global importance being the fastest-growing major economy among the leading economies.

A leading forum of the world’s major economies, G20 seek to develop global policies to address today’s most pressing challenges.

The G20 has 19 member countries and the European Union. The G20 grouping represents 90 per cent of global GDP and 80 per cent of global trade and 2/3rds of global population.

An analysis of GDP growth of the G20 Countries indicates that India is the growth leader in all the G20 countries.

India’s GDP growth rate for the years 2023 to 2026 (average) would be highest at 6.1 per cent followed by China at 4.4 per cent and Turkey at 3 per cent. Being the fastest-growing economy, India holds a great position to enhance its bilateral economic relations with the G20 countries.

The G20 is designated as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, has over the past two decades, formulated an agenda for strong, sustainable and balanced growth; strengthened the international financial regulatory system; reformed the mandate, mission and governance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); deliberated on energy security and

climate change strengthened the support for the most vulnerable countries and placed quality jobs at the heart of the recovery.

Over the past 15 years, the G20’s agenda has expanded to include issues affecting the financial markets, trade, health care, education, anti-corruption, women’s development, skill building and youth promotion.

An analysis of India’s bilateral trade with G20 countries during the recent financial year 2022-23 indicates that the US is India’s largest trade partner in the G20 countries with USD 129 billion in merchandise trade of which India’s exports to US are USD 78.5 billion and Imports from the US are USD 50.9 billion with a trade surplus of USD 27.7 billion.

China is India’s second largest trade partner among the G20 countries with a total merchandise trade of USD 113.8 billion of which India’s merchandise exports to China are USD 15.3 billion and Imports from China are USD 98.5 billion with a trade deficit of USD (-) 83.2 billion.

Saudi Arabia is India’s third largest trade partner in the G20 countries with a total merchandise trade of USD 49.9 billion of which India’s exports are USD 10.7 billion and Imports are USD 42 billion with a trade deficit of USD (-) 31.3 billion.

Russia is India’s fourth largest trade partner in the G20 countries with a total merchandise trade of USD 49.4 billion with India’s export worth USD 3.1 billion and Imports USD 46.2 billion leaving a trade deficit of USD (-) 43.1

billion.

The only regional group in the G20, the EU, is an important trade partner of India with a total merchandise trade of USD 135.9 billion with India’s exports to EU at USD 74.8 billion and imports from the EU at USD 61.1 billion leaving a trade surplus of USD 13.8 billion.

Overall, India has a USD 742.8 billion total merchandise trade with the G20 countries of which USD 287.8 billion are exports and USD 454.9 billion are imports with a trade deficit of USD (-) 167.2 billion.

Through the years, the G20 remained committed to the principles of “strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth” with more and more improvement in the developmental indicators for better terms of trade, ease of doing business and state-of-the-art innovation systems.

An analysis of major lead indicators including ease of Doing Business and Global Innovation

Index indicates that India’s ease of Doing Business is ranked 15th among the G20 countries whereas Global Innovation Index, India is ranked 12th in the G20 countries.

India’s G20 Presidency is one of the most significant milestone moments of Indian democracy. It is widely felt that in times when there is a crisis of multilateralism, India has the responsibility for bringing stability to a deeply divided multipolar world and crafting broader global responses to the challenges.

During its Presidency, India has set the tone that the G20 must continue to fight the crisis of climate change and continue to send clear signals to decarbonize the economic systems. Also, G20 must do everything in its power to keep inflation within the range, and to protect the living standards for vulnerable people.

In a nutshell, the economic fundamentals of India are strong as compared with many of the G20 countries; India is the fastest-moving economy among the G20 nations and holds a trade surplus with eight G20 countries.

At this juncture, the time is most opportune to explore potential with capacity building at the domestic level with the expansion of production possibilities to enhance the size of the economy to the level of 3rd largest in the world economic system in the next few years and thereafter, a developed economy by 2047. (ANI)

ALSO READ-SFJ Asks Kashmiri Muslims To Disrupt Delhi G20

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Business Economy

UPI Transactions Surpassing 10 Billion in August

UPI transactions touched 10.58 billion in August, while the amount transacted during the month was Rs 15.76 lakh crore. …reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded UPI transactions crossing the 10 billion mark in August.

“This is exceptional news! It is a testament to the people of India embracing digital progress and a tribute to their skills. May this trend continue in the times to come,” the PM said in a comment on X (formerly Twitter).

He was responding to a tweet by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which said, “It’s 10 Billion+ transactions in August`23! Make seamless payments from your mobile in real-time with UPI.”

UPI transactions touched 10.58 billion in August, while the amount transacted during the month was Rs 15.76 lakh crore. There has been a 61 per cent year on year growth on transaction count, while in terms of transaction amount, there has been a 47 per cent year on year growth between August 2022 and August 2023.

NPCI is an umbrella organisation for all retail payments in the country.

ALSO READ: e& Capital Invests in Ikigai Labs’ AI Revolution

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Business Economy India News

Adani Group’s Market Cap Touches Rs 10.62 Trillion

Adani Group

The Adani Group’s power portfolio posted strong gains on renewed domestic investor interest…reports Asian Lite News

Adani Group stocks posted gains on Friday, leading to an increase in its market capitalisation by Rs 12,675 crore.

The total market capitalisation of the 10 listed Adani Group companies touched Rs 10.62 trillion, up from Rs 10.49 trillion in the previous closing.

An analyst said, “The Adani Group’s recent surge, especially in its power portfolio, exemplifies the renewed confidence and focus of the investor community on its potential instead. This interest isn’t merely based on current performance but is also a due to the Group’s robust financials and strategic decision-making.

“Even with recent media reports casting a shadow, the market is largely brushing aside the negatives and pivoting to future growth potential of the conglomerate. The Group’s resilience and adaptability in these challenging times have set them apart.”

The Adani Group’s power portfolio posted strong gains on renewed domestic investor interest.

Adani Power’s shares increased by 2.79 per cent to Rs 330.25, taking its market cap to Rs 1.27 lakh crore. Adani Green Energy’s shares gained 1.94 per cent with its market cap rising to Rs 1.49 lakh crore, while Adani Energy Solutions gained 1.59 per cent to post a market cap of Rs 92,017 crore.

Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship company, saw its share price rise by 1.27 per cent to Rs 2,450.05, and its market capitalisation increased to Rs 2.79 lakh crore. Shares of Adani Ports also moved up by 0.92 per cent.

The boost to the Adani group stocks comes as the market recognises group’s fundamental strengths and brushed aside reports such as the Hindenburg report and the recent OCCRP report. The Adani group has rejected these reports’ claims.

As per reports, the regulator has already examined the funds named by OCCRP in the Adani probe. Despite these external challenges, the Group’s financial numbers are robust, reflecting operational strength and resilience.

In Q1FY24, EBITDA of Adani listed portfolio for Q1 FY2024 grew by 42 per cent year on year to Rs 23,532 crore. The core infrastructure EBITDA registered a growth of 34 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 20,233 crore (86 per cent of portfolio).

AEL Infrastructure Businesses registered EBITDA growth of 96 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,718 crore (7 per cent of portfolio). Cement business reported strong recovery on Q-o-Q basis with cost optimization and operational synergies leading to improvement in margins.

In FY23, the Adani Group reported a 36 per cent year-on-year rise in EBITDA to Rs 57,219 crore, delivering robust profitability.

GQG Partners, a US-based investment entity, has made investments in the Adani Group over recent months. The firm initiated with a $1.87 billion investment in March, added another $500 million in May, and acquired a further $1 billion of Adani stocks in June. GQG Partners has been consistently increasing its stakes in Group companies.

ALSO READ: Cloud Costs Concern Indian Firms in Gen AI Era

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Investors Worry Over China’s Sluggish Growth

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HSI) Index slid into a bear market on Friday, having fallen more than 20 per cent from its recent peak in January.

China’s economic slowdown has alarmed international leaders and investors, as per CNN.

For the first time in decades, the world’s second economy is itself in trouble.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HSI) Index slid into a bear market on Friday, having fallen more than 20 per cent from its recent peak in January.

The Chinese yuan, last week, fell to its lowest level in 16 years, prompting the central bank to make its biggest defence of the currency on record by setting a much higher rate to the dollar than the estimated market value.

The issue is that, after a rapid spurt of activity earlier this year following the lifting of COVID lockdowns, growth is stalling. Consumer prices are falling, a real estate crisis is deepening and exports are in a slump. Unemployment among youth has gotten so bad the government has stopped publishing the data, as per CNN.

A major homebuilder and a prominent investment company in China have missed payments to their investors in recent weeks, rekindling fears that the ongoing deterioration of the housing market could lead to heightened risks to financial stability.

A lack of resolute measures to stimulate domestic demand and fears of contagion have triggered a new round of growth downgrades, with several major investment banks cutting their forecasts of China’s economic growth to below five per cent, according to CNN.

UBS analysts wrote in a Monday research note: “We downgrade China’s real GDP growth forecast … as the property downturn has deepened, external demand has weakened further, and policy support has been less than expected.”

Researchers at Nomura, Morgan Stanley and Barclays had previously trimmed their forecasts.

That means China might significantly miss its official growth target of “around 5.5 per cent,” which would be an embarrassment for the Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping, according to CNN.

ALSO READ: China’s Banking Crisis Intensifies Amid Escalating Property Sector Issues

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Pakistan To Import Sugar At PKR 220 Amid Crisis

Pakistan’s sugar export during FY23 stood at 215,751 tonnes fetching USD 104 million against nil exports in FY22….reports Asian Lite News

The Pakistan government has chosen to import 1 million metric tonnes of sugar to replenish the country’s reduced supply after being deceived by sugar mill owners about a “sufficient” domestic stock, Geo News reported.

The federal government will import sugar at an inflated price of PKR 220 per kilogram, and the burden will be passed on to the population, which is already suffering from inflation and will be forced to pay exorbitant prices, the Geo News said.

The current situation is a result of sugar mill owners misleading the government, securing permission for export by reassuring that the country has ‘sufficient’ stock for domestic use. This has led to the hazardous scenario that exists today, as reported by Geo News.

Even though the Punjab Food Department has a carryover surplus stock of sugar of almost 1 million metric tonnes, a spokeswoman for the department has warned of a potential sugar crisis in the coming days.

The only option left with the authorities is to use the surplus stock to mitigate the problem. However, doing so will eventually result in imported sugar being sold on the market, forcing consumers to pay PKR 220 per kg for sugar rather than the official amount of PKR 100 per kg.

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), according to sources cited by Geo News, has already written to Pakistan’s commercial attaché in Brazil to establish arrangements for the import of 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar from the South American country.

Pakistan’s sugar export during FY23 stood at 215,751 tonnes fetching USD 104 million against nil exports in FY22. Exports during July were 5,542 tonnes earning USD 3.4 million as compared to zero exports during July 2022.

The Pakistan government allowed the export of 250,000 tonnes of sugar in January based on the undertaking by the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) that the rates would not rise above Rs 85-90 per kg (ex-mill) for FY22 stocks.

Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA) chairman Rauf Ibrahim demanded that the caretaker government clarify when its writ would be followed to the letter as wholesale sugar prices have risen by Rs 21 per kg since August 1, as per Dawn.

He said no efforts are being made to check the stocks of the sugar mills and hoardings by the investors and speculators.

“The Supreme Court should take a suo Moto notice on soaring food items prices like sugar, wheat and rice and their hoardings,” he added.

Rauf said the government is also losing revenue due to the rampant smuggling of sweeteners to Afghanistan. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Imran Khan Crackdown Reflects Deeper Democratic Concerns in Pakistan

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Survey Reveals Bright Global Outlook on India

The poll also found that while most Indians said their country’s global influence has grown stronger in recent years…reports Asian Lite News

A new poll conducted among people in more than 23 countries showed that India is generally viewed favourably by the world.

The poll also found that while most Indians said their country’s global influence has grown stronger in recent years, the rest of the world disagreed, and either saw no change in India’s standing or saw it get weaker.

At home in India, the 24th country polled for this survey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a commanding double-digit lead over his key challenger for premiership, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress.

The multi-nation poll was conducted by the Pew Research Center to assess India’s image in the world in the year of India’s presidency of the G-20, whose leaders will congregate in a few days in New Delhi for their annual summit.

Pew polled 28,250 people in 23 countries between March and May, and 2,611 in India, over phone and Internet and in face-to-face interviews.

The survey report released on Tuesday showed that a median of 46 per cent of the respondents held a favourable view of India and a median of 34 per cent held an unfavorable view.

Views about India were most positive in Israel (71 per cent), followed by the United Kingdom (66 per cent), Kenya (6 per cent), Nigeria (60 per cent), South Korea (58 per cent), (Japan (55 per cent), Australia (52 per cent), the United States (51 per cent) and Canada (47 per cent).

Holding a positive view of India did not, however, translate to believing India’s global clout is growing.

Only 29 per cent of the Israelis, 34 per cent of the respondents in the UK, 32 per cent in Japan and 23 per cent in the US said India’s clout has grown in recent years. In contrast, 68 per cent of Indians polled for the survey said their country’s global influence has grown in recent times.

Countries that did not view India positively were led surprisingly by South Africa (51 per cent saw India unfavorably), the Netherlands (48 per cent), Spain (49 per cent) and Austria (45 per cent).

In India, Prime Minister Modi turned in a chartbusting lead of 17 percentage points over Rahul Gandhi with 79 per cent to 62 per cent; he was also way ahead of other Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The poll was started just before Rahul Gandhi was removed from the Parliament for his conviction in a defamation case (he has since been reinstated) and wrapped up before the Karnataka election results that gave  a new thrust to the Congress party and its leader.

This poll may not be an updated reflection of the mood in India, having been conducted three months and many critical developments ago.

In other findings of the survey, Indians said they believed both the US and Russia — and they had a positive view of the country and its leader Vladimir Putin — had grown in influence in recent years. Four in 10 Indians said they felt China’s influence has grown stronger in contrast to three in 10 who said it has become weaker.

Views about Pakistan were predictably hostile. About seven in 10 Indians have an unfavorable view of Pakistan, with 57 per cent of them being very unfavorable towards Pakistan.

Merely 19% Indians have a favorable view of their western neighbors.

ALSO READ: Global Poll Highlights Positive Perception of India

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‘2 Million Children Displaced in Brutal Sudan Conflict’

The report went on to say that the violence also continues to obstruct the delivery of health and nutrition services, putting millions of children at risk…reports Asian Lite News

The ongoing brutal conflict in Sudan has led to more than 2 million children forced out of their homes — an average of over 700 kids newly displaced every hour, according to the Unicef.

“As violence continues to ravage the country, over 1.7 million children are estimated to be on the move within Sudan’s borders and more than 470,000 have crossed into neighbouring countries,” the UN agency said in its latest report published on Thursday.

The report said that presently, close to 14 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian support, many facing multiple threats and terrifying experiences every single day.

“Apart from conflict hotspots like Darfur and Khartoum, the heavy fighting has now spread to other populated areas, including in South and West Kordofan, limiting the delivery and access of lifesaving services to those in urgent need,” it noted.

Citing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification in Sudan (IPC) report, Unicef saod that 20.3 million people will be food insecure between July and September 2023 and expected to further exacerbate close to 10 million children’s health and nutrition status. 

The report went on to say that the violence also continues to obstruct the delivery of health and nutrition services, putting millions of children at risk.

“In Khartoum, the Darfur and Kordofan regions, fewer than one-third of health facilities are fully functional. Insecurity and displacement are also preventing patients and health workers from reaching hospitals, with many facilities being reportedly attacked and destroyed.”

Health systems in the other 11 states are overwhelmed due to the massive displacement of populations from hotspots to these less-affected states.

According to Unicef sources, all states in Sudan are reporting severe shortage and stockout of medicines and supplies, including life-saving items.

In areas with high internal displacement and health systems stretched, such as the Blue and White Nile States, disease outbreaks, including measles, are resurfacing with reported associated deaths.

“With over two million children uprooted by the conflict in only a few months, and countless more trapped in its merciless grip, the urgency of our collective response cannot be overstated,” Mandeep O’Brien, Unicef Country Representative in Sudan. was quoted as saying in the report.

“We are hearing unimaginable stories from children and families, some of whom lost everything and had to watch their loved ones die in front of their eyes. We said it before, and we are saying it again: we need peace now for children to survive.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the country’s armed forces and paramilitary forces in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, resulting in at least 3,000 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries, according to official figures.

ALSO READ: Renewed Sudan Fighting Hampers UN Aid Delivery

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‘BRICS Trade and Investment Vital for Global Economic Growth’

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.(Photo: twitter.com/PresidencyZA)

BRICS countries make up a quarter of the global economy, a fifth of global trade and more than 40 percent of the world’s population…reports Asian Lite News

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned against “the new wave of protectionism and the subsequent impact of unilateral measures” and called for “transparency and inclusiveness” to safeguard economic growth.

BRICS economies have “emerged as powerful engines of global growth,” and “the changes that have taken place in BRICS economies over the past decade have done much to transform the shape of the global economy,” Ramaphosa said while addressing the BRICS Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue here, Xinhua news agency reported.

The BRICS countries make up a quarter of the global economy, a fifth of global trade and more than 40 percent of the world’s population, while trade between BRICS countries totaled some 162 billion US dollars in 2022, he said, stressing the important role of foreign investment in the growth of BRICS economies.

“However, the new wave of protectionism and the subsequent impact of unilateral measures that are incompatible with WTO rules undermine global economic growth and development,” he warned.

“We therefore need to reaffirm our position that economic growth must be underpinned by transparency and inclusiveness. It must be compatible with a multilateral trading system that supports a developmental agenda,” he said.

He also called for “a fundamental reform of the global financial institutions so that they can be more agile and responsive to the challenges facing developing economies, hailing the New Development Bank established by BRICS countries in 2015 for having demonstrated ability to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development in emerging economies without conditionalities.

Noting that the rapid economic, technological and social changes underway create new risks for employment, equality and poverty in many BRICS countries, he called on the business community “to join hands with us to identify solutions to these and other challenges affecting our respective economies.”

The president also invited BRICS countries to invest in Africa, which will be positioned as “the next frontier of productivity and growth” with its rich critical minerals and massive untapped potential for investment in infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, new energy, the digital economy as well as in skills development, small and medium enterprises, and others.

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