New bank will not compete with other agencies, expert says

A walker passes by a BRICS/SCO summits bulletin in Ufa, Russia, on July 7, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

The BRICS New Development Bank will complement, not compete with, existing financial institutions, an expert on international affairs said.

Marcos Troyjo, the co-founder and co-director of BRICLab, a Columbia University forum on Brazil, Russia, India and China, told China Daily: "The NDB is not being designed to become a competitor of traditional institutions."

Troyjo made his remarks on Wednesday during the annual BRICS summit in Ufa, capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan in Russia. BRICS launched the new bank on Tuesday ahead of the two-day summit.

The long-planned development bank, aimed at financing projects mainly in BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will select its first projects to finance by the end of the year, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Tuesday.

"The set of multilateral economic entities we have in place fall short of providing both attention and resources to fulfill the needs of the developing world," Troyjo said.

"Not only are funds and personnel insufficient, but the governance rules that still guide these long-standing agencies reflect a global power structure reminiscent of the second half of the 1940s," Troyjo added .

Troyjo said the creation of the NDB is an important move toward integrating the BRICS countries as a group.

BRICS members are also taking their first steps toward creating a platform for building consensus on international agenda items such as rules for international trade and promoting development, he said.

China will contribute $41 billion to the currency pool of the new bank. Brazil, India and Russia will each provide $18 billion, while the remaining $5 billion will come from South Africa.

"For the NDB to be effective, it must keep its governance structure lean and avoid the temptation of horizontally expanding its decision-making process by allowing too many other countries to participate in its leadership," Troyjo said.

"I however do not see any problem in enlarging the geographical scope of the bank when it comes to the focus of its programs. Projects to be financed can definitely involve countries outside the group, but I believe at least one BRICS country should be an interested party."

Troyjo said that he believes the future for BRICS nations as a growth engine must not reside in efficiently adapting to the global economy, but rather in effectively shaping it.

"This will necessarily entail these countries evolving from being successful local content providers toward becoming dynamic hubs of knowledge and innovation," he said.

In terms of the areas in which the five BRICS members can promote their cooperation, Troyjo said, the essential point is that where their interests definitely coincide, they should coexist with their differences in economic clout, political agenda and world view.

BRICS was originally known as BRIC before the inclusion of South Africa in 2010.

The term "BRIC" was coined in 2001 by then-Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill

zhangchunyan@chinadaily.com.cn