Brazil to seek convergence on economic issues within BRICS: president

BRASILIA - At the 9th BRICS Summit scheduled for Sept 3-5 in Southeast China's Xiamen city, Brazil will seek real convergence among the bloc members on economic and financial issues and common challenges, Brazilian President Michel Temer said.

Accompanied by a large delegation of senior officials, Temer will start his China trip on Tuesday, including a state visit in which he will have a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping besides attending the BRICS Summit.

"Brazil has fully committed to the preparatory process for the Xiamen Summit. In the past few months, we have participated in technical and ministerial meetings in several areas of BRICS representatives. There is a lot of confidence in China's capacity to organize the event," Temer said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"I will have an opportunity to personally congratulate President Xi Jinping on the Chinese presidency of the BRICS," he added.

The Brazilian president praised the Summit's preparatory process and reaffirmed his country's commitment to strengthening and increasing cooperation among the BRICS members.

"We see in the BRICS a space of dialogue between great countries and an opportunity to promote cooperation for the mutual benefit of our peoples," he stressed.

Regarding the Xiamen Summit's agenda, Temer showed his country's interest in concrete cooperation among the bloc members, particularly in the economic area.

"Brazil will focus on areas of real convergence in the economic and financial field -- infrastructure financing, investment attraction, regional aviation and customs cooperation -- and in areas which represent common challenges, such as healthcare, cooperation in intelligence, research and development," the president said.

He also noted that, in recent years, BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has made great progress in the group's institutionalization process and financial field, with the creation of the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Fund.

"The New Development Bank is a real example of BRICS's capacity for realization. The Bank allows mobilization of financial resources in an innovative manner for infrastructural and sustainable development projects, both priorities in our countries.

"It is necessary that BRICS remains focused in areas where there is concrete convergence among its members. It is necessary that BRICS remains committed to generating tangible results for our peoples," he said.

The Brazilian president will also take advantage of the summit to promote trade and present to other members his government's concessions and privatization programs, aimed at attracting investments from partner countries.

Besides, he hailed the role that political dialogue among BRICS countries plays in global governance and political stability as well.

"We are going through a time when uncertainties multiply in the midst of isolationist and protectionist tendencies. In view of these challenges, dialogue among countries like ours becomes more important than ever. We defend the WTO's multilateral trade system, and we defend the Paris Agreement on Climate Change," he stressed.

"In this way, we have made a decisive contribution to perfecting and advancing core issues of global governance today," Temer added.