Your Excellency, President Jair Bolsonaro,

Your Excellency, President Vladímir Putin,

Your Excellency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

Your Excellency, President Xi Jinping,

Honoured Guests, 

Colleagues and friends,

Allow me at the outset to express my appreciation for the continued support offered to the BRICS formation from our respective business communities.

The Business Forum and Business Council have emerged as central pillars of our BRICS collaboration.

The continued strength of these business engagements reflects the strength of our economic ties, and recognises the immense potential still on offer.

Each opportunity to trade, invest or collaborate is a chance to grow closer, share knowledge, and develop the type of international partnerships that empower our people.

The benefit of these partnerships is plain to see across our countries.

In South Africa, we play host to Brazilian bus manufacturers, Russian train manufacturers, Indian automotive companies and Chinese machinery producers.

And each of the BRICS countries has South African fruit and vegetables on their tables, buildings constructed from South African metals and factories fitted with South African machinery and electronics.

This strong foundation is strengthened by our Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership and by the continued work of the BRICS Business Council.

The issues dealt with by the Council, from the opportunities of the digital economy to the ongoing need to strengthen our productive infrastructure, speak to both our most pressing challenges and greatest opportunities.

The power of government to support growth and development is dependent on a constant, productive conversation between governments, business, workers and consumers.

This engagement here today is one of those essential channels through which we can find common ground on common challenges.

Key countries in the global economy face slowing growth, complex changes to their trading relationships, or a turn away from the open, rules-based global trading system.

For business people, these challenges are felt in slowing investment opportunities, more costly and complex trade, and rising uncertainty.

I am confident that the BRICS countries can overcome these challenges.

We remain committed to open and fair markets for global businesses.

We remain committed to supportive governance that creates opportunities for inclusive growth.

In South Africa, we are working to achieve this aim by undertaking far-reaching economic reforms aimed at developing an entrepreneurial state that can actively partner with companies.

Last week, we held the second South Africa Investment Conference, which resulted in total committed investment of $24 billion.

We see these pledges as a vote of confidence in South Africa’s core economic strength.

Through our enhanced industrial strategy, we are reinforcing many of the fundamental building blocks of sustainable growth – such as improved education outcomes and a stable policy environment that respects the rule of law – while providing incentives for greater investment.

We are revising our visa regime to welcome skilled employees into our country.

We are developing world-class industrial infrastructure through our special economic zones and industrial parks.

And we are working with business and labour on new master plans to support priority industries.

Just last week, all industry stakeholders signed master plans for the growth and development of the poultry and clothing and textiles sectors.

We are also working on master plans for automotives; gas, chemicals and plastics; metals; renewable energy; agricultural and agro-processing; and high-tech ICT industries.

With the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the African continent offers growth opportunities that are perhaps only matched by our partners in BRICS.

By 2030, African household consumption is estimated to reach $2.5 trillion.

By 2050, Africa’s population will grow to 2.5 billion people.

In creating a unified African free trade area, we aim to turn this underlying human potential into an opportunity for shared and sustainable growth.

Realising this potential will require partnerships, and will offer an opportunity for BRICS countries to join us in building infrastructure, sharing knowledge and creating local manufacturing capacity.

Each of our BRICS partners has a long history of collaboration with Africa, and each is working hard to assist in the development of the African continent.

Through our engagements, we hope to find the abundant opportunities required to achieve the shared vision outlined by our host, Brazil, of economic growth for an innovative future.

I thank you.