DURBAN - In a media statement about the budget vote of the Ministry of International Relations Cooperation, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu spoke about the upcoming BRICS summit.
The 20th BRICS Summit will be taking place from the 25th to the 27th of July 2018. South Africa will be chairing BRICS for 2018.
In the statement, the minister spoke about new areas of BRICS cooperation that have been proposed.
These new areas include:
1. A working group on peacekeeping
2. The creation of a vaccine research centre
3. The creation of the BRICS gender and women forum.
4. The BRICS strategic partnership towards the progress of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
5. The establishment of the BRICS Tourism TracK of cooperation.
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South Africa has determined that an outreach that will take place with African leaders will ensure continuities from 2013 as well as support for African industrialisation and infrastructure development.
For this outreach various African countries have been invited in various capacities including Rwanda as the Chair of the African Union, Namibia as the incoming Chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Togo as the Chair of the Economic Community of West Africa.
The Head of the NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development) agency, the President of African Development Bank and six REC's (regional executive committee) secretaries-general have also been invited.
South Africa will also be hosting another event on the borders of the 10th BRICS Summit. The event which is called BRICS Plus Outreach is being held to ensure maximum cooperation between the South African chairship of BRICS and the Chinese chairship in 2017.
Countries like Argentina, Indonesia, Egypt, and Turkey have been invited for BRICS Plus Outreach. The Secretary-General of the United Nations will also be invited for the outreach.