Ramaphosa calls for Brics 'common agenda' to promote growth and unity

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged delegates from Brics countries to find methods of building inclusive growth, multilateralism and unity - while warning against imperialism and oppression.

He was speaking at the Brics political parties dialogue in Pretoria on Tuesday. The event brings together 200 delegates from Brics member states and other fraternal parties from the continent.

“We seek to find the best ways and methods towards building what we could call a common agenda, which is about inclusive growth and multilateralism in the fourth industrial revolution,” said Ramaphosa.

“We are bound by our duty to the billions of people we collectively lead to discuss vigorously our common economic and political challenges with a view of developing an approach to deal with these challenges in the framework of Brics.”

Ramaphosa said political leaders had a responsibility to forge unity among their countries and act “in concert to make the world a better place for all to live in”.

“We must at a political level do two things: firstly, agree on a common frame of reference from which we conduct a proper analysis of the world we live in; and secondly, actively work to change it for the better,” he said.

“As political parties, we must frown upon forces that promote processes that seek to perpetuate any form of imperialism or chauvinism - and any form of oppression of one by another.

“We must also enhance the competitive advantages that each of our countries have. All of our five countries have a number of competitive advantages. We should also boost economic growth and promote economic transformation.”

The dialogue will continue until Thursday.