LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivian President Luis Arce will attend next month’s BRICS summit in South Africa as the South American country looks for stronger partnerships and investments to help boost commodities exports and develop its emerging lithium industry, the foreign minister said on Monday.
“We seek to move towards sustainable, inclusive development and to strengthen cooperation ties with these emerging economies,” Bolivian Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta said at a press conference.
The Bolivian president will join senior officials from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) at the geopolitical bloc’s Aug. 22-24 annual meeting in Johannesburg, where a top issue for discussion will be whether to admit new member countries.
More than 40 countries have expressed interested in joining the BRICS group of nations, a top South African diplomat said this month.
While no official list has been published, countries that have shown interest in the past range from Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Egypt to Iran, Cuba, and Kazakhstan.
At a July meeting of the South American trade bloc known as Mercosur, Arce said that Bolivia was seeking strategic alliances with BRICS countries and new partnerships that challenge the existing global economic order.
Bolivia last week said it was working to complete more of its financial transactions in Chinese yuan, echoing BRICS leaders who have touted aims to decrease their dependence on the U.S. dollars.
BRICS members China and Russia have recently stepped up investments to develop Bolivia’s huge lithium resources, including three deals with two Chinese firms and a Russian firm worth a total of $2.8 billion, signed this year.
(Reporting by Daniel Ramos; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
