MARGAO: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the BRICS Business Council is working closely with the National Development Bank on identifying and implementing economic projects with priority on green corridors.
Addressing media persons in the presence of President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of China Xi Jinping, President of Brazil Michel Temer, and President of South Africa Jacob Zuma, Modi said the BRICS members are enhancing business opportunities by strengthening mutual trades and building investment linkages more so in the field of agriculture.
He said that it was a collective agreement among the BRICS countries to remove the bottlenecks coming in the way of intra-BRICS trade and economy.
The Prime Minister said the BRICS Business Council has matching priorities of improving businesses, promoting skills development, establishing manufacturing-supply chains and infrastructure development by dismantling trade barriers within the countries.
“The council reflects the full economic diversity and depth of business engagement between our countries,” he stressed expressing happiness over the business council taking healthy shape three years after it had been set up in Durban.
He said business communities are the strongest proponents for closer and faster commercial cooperation and that the partnerships create wealth and value in our societies, enhancing productivity and create jobs in our economies through technological innovations and capacity.
“In India, we have undertaken substantial reforms in the last two years to streamline and simplify governance, especially while doing business. We have moved up in almost all global indices that measure such performances. We have transformed India into one of the most open economies in the world today,’’ he said.
The Chinese President said the BRICS countries can collectively and effectively face the challenges and that China extend its fullest cooperation to this effect.
The long-term business prospective in different areas needs to be explored with innovation in mind, he said, adding that the BRICS summit helps improve economic partnerships among the countries.
Putin spoke on the support and cooperation to the member countries. He said that ‘connectivity’ with the people was important for developing a road map of business with specific projects.
The common goal of the partners is to strengthen the business ties and exchanges, Putin said.
Temer said his country was looking forward to the investments in 34 projects which include railways, oil and gas sectors.
He said that Brazil was committed to improve the business partnership urging the Indian side to improve the people-to-people connectivity.
Political and economic stability plays an important role in developing the countries, Temer observed.
Zuma said that his country supports key projects in the areas identified for cooperation with BRICC nations include science, infrastructure, electricity generation and transmission.
Assuring corporation for the BRICS grouping, he said the NDB was established in South Africa to pay attention for funding and implementing continental projects.
AGENCIES ADD: The NDB plans to more than double its commitment to support infrastructure projects to the tune of US $2.5 billion in 2017, its president K V Kamath said on Sunday.
“We are targeting incremental lending of US $2.5 billion over next year and we believe it will be largely in the sustainable and green infrastructure,” Kamath said at the BRICS Business Council.
He said the multilateral lender, which started operations last year, has made commitments of US $911 million in this year and hopes to close 2016 with US $1 billion.
Keeping the commitments and the actual lending in mind, NDB has drawn up a plan to raise US $1.5 billion from multiple sources next year, said the noted banker.
While expanding the lending activities, Kamath said the bank will seek to reduce the cost of borrowing for the member countries by doing local currency borrowings which does not require any hedging.
It has already done 3 billion yuan (US $450 million) in China, as part of a Beijing-approved plan to raise 10 billion yuans in the medium-term, he said, adding it will adopt a similar strategy in other markets as well.
India, where it has committed up to US $250 million already, will be among the first countries where it plans to raise money in local currency, Kamath said, adding that a rupee bond issue will be done in the first half of next year.