OPINION | While the BRICS opportunities are clear, SA's trading relationships with the West are essential to our economic well-being. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be clear to those representing us, writes Busisiwe Mavuso.
While the BRICS opportunities are clear, SA's trading relationships with the West are essential to our economic well-being. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be clear to those representing us, writes The BRICS bloc is a positive opportunity for South Africa. It is right for our government to cultivate relationships with BRICS. India and China in particular are massive and fast-growing markets from which South African businesses can benefit.
The speech was heavy on rhetoric that presented BRICS as a competitive pole in the world against the West, rather than an alliance designed to enhance the development and cooperation of its members. Of course, this pattern of low value-added exports to Asia is one we should aim to change, shifting the trading mix over time to goods with more value added.
China, India and Brazil have huge populations that create potentially massive demand for goods we could potentially provide. But we need to be realistic about our approach to those opportunities, particularly with China, which clearly has a substantial appetite for mineral resources, but a highly competitive manufacturing capability that would be difficult for SA to compete with.
To that end, it is positive that President Vladimir Putin is not going to attend the summit in person as his presence would have completely dominated the agenda and limited the chance of positive outcomes.
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