Crisis gives BRICS more prominence

The global financial crisis since 2008 has given BRICS economies greater prominence on the world stage, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General-elect Roberto Azevedo said Wednesday.

BRICS countries need to make their participation in multilateral fora and organizations a state policy as the crisis has also brought greater responsibilities in relation to development and cooperation policies, he told a seminar on development in Brazil's capital Brasilia.

BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- need to talk more to each other as the bloc is mot mature enough to "act in an agile and rapid manner in all global governance fora," he said.

Emerging countries are "one of the main focal points of the global scenario," he said, adding that their development policies are being watched carefully.

He also stressed that Brazil's relations with other developing countries are much more important now than they were in 2008 when the crisis started, with more technical and political cooperation with those countries.

Azevedo was elected to lead the WTO in May and will take over from Pascal Lamy on Sept. 1 for a four-year term.

Roberto Azevedo

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General-elect