Eleven members of the BRICS group gathered in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil this week for a two-day summit during which topics like Israel’s attack on Iran, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and the trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump were extensively discussed.
The summit condemned Trump’s “indiscriminate” tariff policies, saying that they affect prospects for global economic development. In response, Trump threatened to impose an extra 10 per cent tariff on the group’s members.
Addressing the summit’s inaugural session on “Reform of Global Governance and Peace and Security”, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said the BRICS Summit comes at a critical time as the world faces multiple intertwined crises and challenges, including geopolitical tensions, threats to peace and security, a series of unprecedented economic setbacks, escalating trade protectionism, rising debt levels, climate change, and, above all, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
“There is no doubt that the most dangerous crisis of our time is the Israeli war against innocent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for nearly two years. This war has resulted in the death of more than 55,000 Palestinian civilians, two thirds of whom are women and children, in addition to approximately 125,000 wounded,” Madbouli said.
“This tragedy is the result of Israel’s ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law.”
He emphasised that Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, is making every effort to achieve the ceasefire agreed upon on 15 January, but that the Israeli aggression against civilians constitutes a violation of this agreement.
He also addressed the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, emphasising that conflicts must be resolved through diplomatic means.
Madbouli stressed that the BRICS group’s pivotal role in the international system is growing. “I would like to highlight a number of priorities, including accelerating joint cooperation and integration to address the challenges we face through implementing joint projects in various economic sectors, including energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure, as well as emerging technologies and innovation, particularly artificial intelligence,” he said.
He called for greater cooperation among the group’s central banks in order to settle financial transactions in local currencies and in line with the Across-the-Border Payments Initiative adopted by the BRICS countries.
Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said Egypt looks forward to a greater role for the BRICS group in finding innovative solutions to the global debt crisis, particularly for middle-income countries. He explained that BRICS countries can play an influential role, along with other parties, in promoting debt-for-investment swap initiatives and other tools to advance development efforts.
Speaking at the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting on Sunday, Kouchouk, in an indirect swipe at Trump, said that the emerging markets have been severely impacted by increased tariffs and growing global uncertainties and that economic cooperation among BRICS countries should be strengthened to mitigate the impacts of these shocks.
Kouchouk met with Maxim Oreshkin, deputy chairman of the Russian Plenipotentiary for Economic Relations with the BRICS countries, and praised the significant growth in economic, financial, trade, and investment relations with Russia, adding that Egyptian-Russian projects can be further developed under the BRICS umbrella.
Two weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified an amendment to the agreement with Egypt regarding the terms of repayment for the loan financing the Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, a project being implemented by Russia’s Rosatom. The amendment allows Egypt to repay the loan in Russian rubles instead of foreign currencies.
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev announced that the switch to ruble-denominated payments was made due to “challenges in repaying using unfavourable foreign currencies”.
Mohamed Al-Manzlawi, deputy chairman of the Senate’s Industrial Committee, said “the verbal clash between the BRICS Summit and US President Donald Trump is not new.”
“Trump has an aggressive view of the BRICS and has threatened before that he will target the group if it decides to scrap the US dollar and use local currencies,” he said.
US Ambassador to Egypt Herro Mustafa Garg revealed last month that Egypt and the US are finalising a customs cooperation agreement. Garg described the agreement as a “significant milestone” in promoting bilateral trade and US investment in Egypt.
Minister of the Public Enterprises Sector Mohamed Al-Shimi emphasised the significance of BRICS membership for Egypt, which officially joined the bloc in early 2024. “This membership boosts Egypt’s economy through the New Development Bank, which can finance key projects and facilitate trade, especially in strategic goods. The BRICS also opens new export markets for Egyptian products,” he said.
Speaking to the China Global Television Network ahead of the summit, Al-Shimi highlighted ongoing partnerships with different countries. “We’ve established a dedicated government unit for BRICS cooperation. With China, we partner in auto manufacturing including electric vehicles and buses through the Al-Nasr Auto Company, alongside collaboration in textiles,” he said.
Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to Egypt this week upon an invitation from Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli.
China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that Qiang’s visit is an opportunity for Chinese and Egyptian officials to discuss ways of boosting the strategic partnership between the two countries and to use their membership of the BRICS group to advance economic and political relations.
Figures released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) on Sunday show that the value of trade between Egypt and the BRICS member states increased to $50.8 billion in 2024, up from $42.5 billion in 2023, a growth of 19.5 per cent.
Egyptian exports to the BRICS member states rose to $9.4 billion in 2024, up from $8.5 billion in 2023, an increase of 10.6 per cent.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the top importers from Egypt among the BRICS countries. Egyptian exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE reached $3.4 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively, in 2024.
The value of Egyptian imports from the BRICS countries rose to $41.4 billion in 2024, up from $34 billion in 2023, an increase of 21.8 per cent. China and Saudi Arabia came on top, exporting $15.5 billion and $7.9 billion to Egypt, respectively, in 2024.
CAPMAS figures show that the value of BRICS countries’ investments in Egypt reached $40.6 billion in 2023-2024, while Egyptian investments in the BRICS countries were valued at $1.7 billion in the same period.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 10 July, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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