FORTALEZA, July 14 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova - Infrastructure development is currently the main objective for the BRICS countries, and it will be the primary goal of the New Development Bank (NDB), Brazil’s Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade said Monday during a press briefing at the BRICS summit in Fortaleza.
“The main objective now, the main goal is to foster the infrastructure of our five countries,” Mauro Borges told journalists following a closed meeting of the BRICS Ministers and Presidents of Central Banks of the BRICS.
“It [the New Development Bank] will be at first entirely devoted to infrastructure, that is the focus, that is different from other development banks,” Borges said.
“We are entirely focused on infrastructure, how to foster and to have a better infrastructure for the five countries, how to cooperate with infrastructure,” he added.
The minister also stressed that Brazil currently regards infrastructure development as one of its key priorities.
“The New Development Bank is quite critical for us to reach our long-term goals. This is not a short-term objective, we are thinking in the long-run,” Mauro Borges said speaking about infrastructure development in Brazil.
The New Development Bank is to focus on infrastructure projects in emerging economies and is open to adding new members, while the BRICS share is required to be at least 55 percent. The signing of the agreement on setting up the bank is espected to take place on Tuesday, July 15 once the heads of the BRICS states hold their first session at the 2014 summit.
The bank is to rival Western-centric financial institutions such as the World Bank. The establishment of the bank is intended to help BRICS countries free themselves, as well as other developing nations, from Washington’s dominance, as infrastructure loans should be allocated with fewer restrictions and delays. The bank is to have an initial capital of $50 billion, with equal contributions from the five BRICS countries. The first loan is expected to be made in 2016.
