OREANDA-NEWS. April 14, 2011. Following the talks, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, who took part in the summit, adopted a declaration assessing key aspects of the association’s cooperation. An agreement on BRICS inter-bank cooperation was also signed in the presence of the summit’s participants.

Following the summit, the leaders of the BRICS member states made press statements.

Later, Dmitry Medvedev answered questions from journalists.

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Press statement by the Russian President following BRICS summit.

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV:

President Hu Jintao, President Zuma, President Rousseff, Prime Minister Singh, ladies and gentlemen,

First of all I would like to thank President of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Hu Jintao for his hospitality and the excellent organisation of the summit. Here in Sanya, which is actually one of the most beautiful parts of China and in the past 15 years has become a world-class resort, we have worked well and achieved important results.
See also:
Sanya Declaration (BRICS Leaders Meeting, Sanya, Hainan, China, April 14, 2011)

The current BRICS summit is the first since South Africa has joined our organisation. Now BRICS represents the largest states on three continents. Our economic potential, political opportunities and development prospects as an association of countries and as a forum is exceptional and opens new horizons for expanding cooperation in various fields.

Over the past years our association has made significant progress in deepening political dialogue between our states. We have seen an increase in the mutual trust and level of cooperation on international issues, including within the UN Security Council, and I would like to emphasise that currently all BRICS member-states sit on the Security Council.

Today, we all agreed that we should take advantage of this special situation. We must act to boost the potential of the United Nations, and to ensure that all the decisions adopted by the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council are effective and respected.

Our states have consonant approaches to reforming the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

We discussed the need for further reform of the international monetary and financial system during today's meeting. A number of decisions were adopted on this item on our agenda, as well as on another very important issue: reducing the volatility of world prices for agricultural products; these decisions determine the consolidated position of BRICS member states. Experts and heads of relevant agencies in our countries will now finalise the details of these agreements so that the BRICS states will be able to submit them for discussion during the G20 Summit to be held in Cannes.

An important achievement of the summit was the adoption of a long-term action plan. The emphasis it placed on the development of economic ties and cooperation within the G20, as well as a more active involvement of our civil society institutions.

Russia has also contributed to the development of the action plan and will take an active part in its implementation. In addition, we have proposed to develop new forms of cooperation in science, technology and innovation, and have put forward our own initiatives in these areas. We hope that all our proposals, as well as our partners’ suggestions will be very carefully analysed and these projects will be implemented for the benefit of our states.

This summit was held against the backdrop of a very difficult international situation that has had an impact on the discussion of current foreign affairs.

Like other BRICS nations, Russia is deeply concerned about the events in Libya and civilian casualties. Our shared view is that the problem must be resolved by political and diplomatic efforts, not through the use of force. In this context, we appreciated the mediation efforts of the African Union mission headed by the President of the Republic of South Africa.

Another vitally important issue that has been in the focus of global attention for over a month now is the tragic events in Japan. Russia and other summit participants expressed their sympathy to the Government and people of Japan, who have experienced a large-scale natural disaster followed by a technological catastrophe. I would also like to note that our country has invited our partners to set up a mechanism for mutual emergency relief, since no nation in the world is safe from disasters.

In conclusion I would like to thank my colleagues for their keen, trust-based and businesslike approach to the issues under discussion, with the focus not only on today's plans, but also on the prospects that are opening up for long-term cooperation. I am confident that the agreements achieved at this summit will strengthen the foundation for multi-faceted cooperation between the BRICS states and the partnership which will serve the interests of our nations, stability and growth throughout the world.