BRICS nations launch business council

BRICS countries on Wednesday morning have launched the BRICS Business Council, the key institution expected to drive private sector investments among the five member countries.South Africa President Jacob Zuma launched the council during the breakfast meeting he hosted for the other BRICS leaders from China, Brazil, India and Russia."The Council will serve as a platform to strengthen and promote economic, trade, business and investment ties between the business communities of the five BRICS countries," said President Zuma during the launch.The BRICS Business Council's objectives include the strengthening of trade relations, promotion of business relations, technology transfer, and cooperation in the areas of technology development, banking, the green economy, manufacturing and industrialization."The formation of the Business Council this morning reiterates the commitment within the private sector to foster closer collaboration between the BRICS nations. I am sure that this will set the tone for the BRICS Business Council going forward," he said.He said the council should play a very active role in carving out an implementation plan to accelerate economic cooperation and partnerships between enterprises of the BRICS nations."In this regard, we would like to see such tangible and practical projects when we meet at the next Summit in Brazil. Opportunity is immense. Now is the time for the BRICS Business Council to lead private sector engagements and projects for mutual benefit and cooperation," he said.The proposed council will meet twice a year and the chairmanship will rotate every year in alignment with the political leadership.Some of the names of the council include Apollo Tyres Chairman and Managing Director Onkar Kanwar, Murugappa Group Chief A. Vellayan, Modi Enterprises Chairman K. K. Modi, Suzlon Energy Chairman Tulsi Tanti, and Zen Technologies Managing Director Ashok Atluri.The council is expected to focus on infrastructure projects, including roads, sewage management, water conservancy, energy management, food industries, information technology and healthcare.It will also focus on setting up of free trade zones in the BRICS countries to facilitate easy movement of people, goods and services. The council will be crucial in enabling the BRICS increase trade with each other from the current 360 billion U.S. dollars to 500 billion dollars by 2015.Other outcomes of the BRICS summit include BRICS Marine Cable and the BRICS Trade and Development Risk Pool whose details will be released later Wednesday.The aim of the Trade and Development Risk Pool is to establish a sustainable and alternative insurance and reinsurance network for the BRICS countries.The BRICS Cable will focus on a new high capacity of 28,400 km linking the BRICS countries, and this will remove the dependency on developed countries as interconnection points by providing a direct route among the BRICS countries."These areas of cooperation also tie in directly with the overarching theme of this BRICS dialogue, namely BRICS and Africa - partnership for development, integration and industrialization," said President Zuma.