Hon Chairperson, hon members, President Zuma has been invited to attend the third Brazil, Russia, India, China, or Bric, summit by President Hu Jintao of mainland China in his capacity as host for this summit. This will be the first time that a South African head of state will participate in a Bric summit, which will become "Brics", given South Africa's membership.
At this summit, the President is expected to address issues of national interest as they pertain to, firstly, our African agenda; secondly, the strengthening of South-South co-operation; thirdly, boosting trade and investment opportunities; fourthly, reforming multilateral institutions and, fifthly, furthering our growth and job creation imperatives as expressed by our Industrial Policy Action Plan 2, or Ipap 2, and the New Growth Path.
You would have heard Minister Gordhan comment in his Budget Speech as follows, and I quote:
South Africa's invitation to join the Bric economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China reflects this broadening of the sources of economic growth. Over the next five years, these economies will account for 36% of world economic growth. We have to construct our own growth and development strategies to propel our economy forward, create jobs and compete on the global stage.
The Brics summit will be hosted in April 2011. Since the host country has not as yet formally announced the date for the summit and agenda-related aspects, South Africa is not in a position to publicly comment on specific issues related to the agenda, which is also still under discussion.
South Africa is at this stage not in a position to comment on any special Brics trade and investment regime designed for us, but will make these public once finalised with fellow members. Currently, existing bilateral agreements with each of our counterparts obtain.
At this stage it is expected that the normal investment regime will pertain, but you will see that at the last Bric summit, in April 2010, an agreement was signed between Bric development banks, of which the intent was to "promote economic and investment co-operation within the framework of Bric countries", which will in future include a South African banking party where such discussions could also take place. I thank you.