BRICS Bank Starts Talks On Membership Expansion - Vice President

The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by BRICS nations, has launched talks to expand membership to countries outside of the bloc, the bank's vice president, Vladimir Kazbekov, told Sputnik

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2020) The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by BRICS nations, has launched talks to expand membership to countries outside of the bloc, the bank's vice president, Vladimir Kazbekov, told Sputnik.

"One of the important next steps for the New Development Bank, noted by the BRICS leaders during the [November 17] summit, is an expansion of the NDB's membership. The bank has already started practical negotiations," Kazbekov said.

According to the vice president, the expansion will not only strengthen the NDB's position of as one of the largest development institutions, but also cement BRICS' leadership in the developing world and the global economy as a whole.

"The New Development Bank has been operating for slightly over five years - a fairly short period for an international financial organization.

Despite this, the NDB has already become a significant source of funding for sustainable development infrastructure projects in all BRICS countries," Kazbekov added.

The official recalled that the bank's portfolio includes 65 approved investment projects, with loans totaling $21 billion.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa signed an agreement to create a bank to focus on developing sustainable infrastructure in 2014. A year later, the treaty entered into force. The bank is open for membership to any UN member, but the cumulative share of BRICS nations can never be less than 55 percent of the voting potential.