UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed to travel to Russia for BRICS Summit

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed is set to begin an official visit to Russia on Monday for the 16th BRICS Summit. The Russian city of Kazan is going to host the event from October 22-24. It’ll be the UAE’s first participation in the Summit as a member.

During the trip, His Highness and his Russian counterpart HE Vladimir Putin are expected to hold meticulous discussions on strengthening bilateral relations, especially in the areas of economy, trade, investment and energy, among others.

BRICS seeking a fair global financial and trading system

The BRICS bloc of emerging economies, originally including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South africa, expanded last year to become a 10-nation body. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE joined the grouping as members earlier this year.

Last year, the top BRICS leaders at the summit in Johannesburg approved a proposal to admit multiple countries. BRICS expansion is a strong indication of the increasing authority of the association and its role in international affairs, Putin earlier said in an address.

The Russian President said BRICS is attracting more and more supporters and like-minded countries that share its underlying principles such as sovereign equality, openness, consensus, and a fair global financial and trading system.

Increasing the role of BRICS in international financial system

The BRICS bloc includes major global economies. The expanded group has a combined population of about 3.5 billion. Its members’ economics amount to more than $28.5 trillion – or about 28% of the global economy.

BRICS countries currently produce about 44% of the global crude oil. In the 2024 Summit, Russia seeks to increase the role of the group in the international financial system and, develop cooperation among banks and expand the use of BRICS currencies, reported BBC.