BRICS Industry Ministers' Meet: India Bats For Expanding Horizon Of New Development Bank To Strengthen Social Infrastructure

India on Wednesday (18 August) suggested that the resources of the New Development Bank, a multilateral bank established by the BRICS countries, should be utilised for strengthening of social infrastructure besides promotion of the Industrial sector.

The development comes as Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal chaired the fifth meeting of the Industry Ministers of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries through video conferencing.

India chose the theme of "BRICS@15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus" for its chairship this year, a Commerce Ministry release said.

During the meeting, Goyal highlighted India’s efforts of channelizing technology towards good and smart governance thus increasing transparency and accountability.

India has developed a vibrant and dynamic start-up ecosystem, leveraged existing platforms and digital technologies such as Aadhar and UPI payments for ensuring delivery of critical services to the last mile, the minister noted.

The BRICS Industry Ministers recognised the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic particularly in the fields of trade and industry.

They complimented all the COVID warriors, our doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and scientists, across all the BRICS countries, for their selfless and tireless efforts in saving our lives, the release said.

They appreciated the need for adopting the emerging new technologies in a swiftly changing world and recognised this as an important tool for modernization and transformation of industry, promotion of inclusive economic growth, thus helping BRICS national economies to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

The ministers agreed on the need to build human resources in line with the changing requirements accelerated by the new emerging technology to promote training and skills development of the related workforce and businesses through workshops, seminars, and exchange programmes.

They reiterated their commitment to make efforts to foster open, fair, and non-discriminatory trade environment, ensure greater participation in global value chains, promote digital inclusion, assess the implications, and encourage the progressive, safe, equitable, and sustainable use of disruptive technologies for advancing growth.

The ministers also expressed their intention to collaborate with the New Development Bank (NDB).

"India expressed the desire to expand the horizon of NDB and resources be utilized for strengthening of social infrastructure besides promotion of Industrial sector," the release said.

According to the release, the meeting concluded with the BRICS Industry Ministers reaffirming their commitment to work together as a group, complement strengths of each other, share best practices and learn from weaknesses, and move ahead in a positive and constructive manner to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.