Putin advocates capacity building for the New Development Bank

“Ffurther ortalect the potential of the New BRICS Development Bank and update its business model seems to be an urgent task. The bank has already financed 123 projects worth nearly $40,000 million. This is certainly a good result, but the funding needs are much greater,” Putin said during the extended summit of BRICS members and their partners in New Delhi.

According to the Russian leader, a new investment platform could help meet those needs.

“Thanks to the use of modern financial technologies, including digital assets, it will attract long-term capital, including private capital, not only to BRICS countries, but also, and this is very important, to the economies of our global South and Eastern partners,” he added.

Putin also called attention to Russian initiatives within the bloc.

“ I ask you to consider carefully the initiatives that Russia has put forward to optimize our cooperation,” he said.

It added that this was in particular the establishment of a reinsurance mechanism and a cereal exchange within the association.

“ I am convinced that all these mechanisms can be used in the future by both BRICS member countries and their partners,” the Russian President said.

Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Belarus, Cuba and Bolivia are part of the category of “partner countries”, created to bring new governments closer to the bloc without immediately expanding the core of full members.

Several of these “partner countries” also arrived in New Delhi with the highest level representation, including Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Uganda’s Vice President Jessica Alupo, and Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima.

From Central Asia are Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, Africa, Nigeria and Uganda, Latin America and the Caribbean, Bolivia and Cuba. Belarus completes a group that extends the political presence of the bloc far beyond its 11 members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Argentina).

The category was born in 2024, after the BRICS had led the biggest expansion since they were created and began to bring together 11 members, a growth that increased the international weight, but also made it difficult to make decisions by consensus.

Partners offer an intermediate formula because they can participate in summits and certain ministerial meetings and join some group initiatives, but do not have the same role as members in decision-making.