Brics snooze-fest kicks off this week

Sure, the Brics grouping offers a big, lucrative market for SA produced goods and services. But SA also offers a big consumer base to Bric producers.  The question is: Within the Brics space, which competing companies will win the production and efficiency battle to capture the largest market share?

The only way to have local industry compete with their Bric competitors, is for the South African government to promote the growth of the private sector, i.e. production.  This means it must intervene less and reduce the burden of taxation on the private sector.  Local producers cannot win this race if they have to carry the bloated (and growing) ANC government on its backs.   Bric producers are carrying smaller and shrinking governments and will dominate local producers if the market is opened up.

To strengthen and expand the mutually beneficial trade relationship between Brics, and for SA to leverage off this relationship, SA must produce more goods and services, not have government sit in more meetings and strike up more trade agreements with political cronies.  You can have all the trade agreements in the world, but without anything to sell, being a part of the Brics is meaningless.

Zuma arrives for Brics summit

Apr 13, 2011 8:25 AM | By Sapa-dpa

President Jacob Zuma arrived in China on Wednesday to attend the third leaders’ summit of the Brics group of five major developing nations.

“The invitation (to join the group) indicates the high regard with which our country is viewed internationally,” Zuma told China’s official Xinhua news agency before his visit.

…

“The grouping offers a big, lucrative market for South Africa’s goods and services, and lots of opportunities to implement our Industrial Policy Action Plan and the New Growth Path framework,” he told the agency.

Times Live