President Jacob Zuma, who is already in Brazil, will join leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China, which make up the BRICS grouping, for their sixth summit.

Accompanied by five cabinet ministers, as well as a business delegation, President Zuma will attend the two-day summit on Tuesday.

The summit will be held under the theme ‘BRICS - Inclusive growth: Sustainable solutions’- which is in line with South Africa’s priorities over the next five years.

The leaders will discuss other issues regarding global governance and peace and security, the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) and reports on progress towards the establishment of the BRICS-led New Development Bank (NDB).

The group is considering setting up a development bank and emergency reserve fund, challenging the western-run global financial framework that’s been in place since the end of World War II.

The five economies are expected to sign off on the new institutions after two years of tough negotiations.

The BRICS will pool an initial $50 billion dollars for the bank, with each country contributing an equal amount, and seek to gain influence by offering developing nations an alternative to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

In their last summit, the leaders had instructed the ministers to work on technical details around the setting up of the bank, which will spearhead infrastructure development in BRICS member states and other developing nations.

The BRICS will also set up a $100 billion contingency pool, which could be available by 2015 to help any of its members if they are hit by a sudden loss of foreign capital.

The sixth BRICS summit will be the first to be hosted in the second cycle of BRICS summits. South Africa hosted the fifth BRICS summit in Durban, last year.

During South Africa's tenure as chairperson, substantive progress was achieved in anchoring the new BRICS mechanisms that were launched at the fifth summit.

These include the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Think Tanks Council.

Reports will be submitted to the sixth BRICS summit on the work undertaken by these structures. – SAnews.gov.za

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies says it would be an advantage if the Brics Development Bank was to be located in Johannesburg.

The minister said this when briefing the media on the expectations of the upcoming Brics meeting, scheduled to take place in Brazil next week.

“… South Africa has indicated its willingness and desire to offer Johannesburg as a host domicile for the bank.

“We think that from a point of view of the functioning of the institution, with some of its key roles, funding infrastructure and investing in the African continent, the bank being located in South Africa is going to be a huge advantage from the point of view of the advocacy of the bank.

“It is not limited to that. We do of course have the connections, the facilities and the ability to run an institution that deals with places other than the African continent. We do think that the location in Johannesburg will be a huge advantage in terms of ... a new institution here and jobs. But our prime motivation and our prime argument is in terms of being able to play that role in an optimal manner,” he said on Friday.

Minister Davies said while South Africa has lobbied to have the bank in South Africa, he noted that contrary to media reports, no decision had been taken on the location of the Brics Development Bank.

“It has been agreed by the heads of state that any decision on the location of the bank will be taken by them. Anybody who says there is a decision up to now, there is no such decision and anybody who says there is a decision is simply speculating.”

The sixth Brics meeting follows last year’s meeting in eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal, where a decision was taken for the bank to be established.

The bank, which the five member countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – decided to establish at the fifth meeting, will not limit its mandate to funding projects in the Brics countries.

Minister Davies said the bank also had a mandate to invest in infrastructure in other developing countries, particularly in Africa.

He said, meanwhile, that a study that was commissioned by South Africa will be tabled at the meeting of trade ministers next week. The study proposes that value added trade investment cooperation takes place between the Brics countries.

Minister Davies said the study was aimed at ensuring that the countries all achieve mutual trade opportunities that will not be biased or favour trade ambitions of other countries.

Another report on a discussion that has taken place about international investment agreements will also be tabled.

The minister said this report was shaped by a debate taking place internationally and that there is a review in the way that international investment agreements have been structured.

Minister Davies would not, however, detail the contents of the two reports, as he did not want to preempt discussions at next week’s meeting.

Minister Davies said, meanwhile, that the Brics Business Council – launched at the eThekwini summit – would also table its own report on how governments can make it easier for businessmen from the five countries to do business.

The council, headed by billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe, will also discuss trade opportunities that business people can explore. - SAnews.gov.za

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Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi says his department will review the country’s mining strategy to ensure that all minerals that come out of the country benefit both the economy and the people of South Africa.

The minister said the new administration has a mandate to accelerate socio-economic transformation to ensure that the triple ills of the economy – unemployment, poverty and inequality – are tackled and addressed.

He said this when briefing the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources in Parliament on Tuesday.

Minister Ramatlhodi said in order to improve the lives of citizens, government had aligned all its plans to the National Development Plan (NDP). The NDP is the state’s policy framework aimed at making the lives of all South Africans better by 2030.

He said the stability of the country’s mining industry remained important to driving the vision of a robust socio-economic transformation.

“To this end, we will play an important role in the implementation of a framework agreement for a sustainable mining industry, led by the Presidency.

“In terms of the current administration, one of the department’s priorities includes the review of the country’s mining strategy, which will be informed by a consultative engagement with all stakeholders.

“This review, together with the assessment of the mining charter… will not only enable us to reflect on how far the industry has come [in terms of transformation goals], but what we can and must do to accelerate the broader transformation of the mining industry,” he said.

The minister’s remarks come against the backdrop of the recent five-month long strike in the platinum belt. Mining companies Lonmin, Anglo Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum (Implats) reached a wage agreement with mining union Association of Mining and Construction Union (Amcu) after a protracted strike, which left a bruise on the economy.

Minister Ramatlhodi said while the health of the economy called for safeguarding the industry, it was important to also ensure that mineworkers were well looked after in terms of their health and safety while working underground and under harsh conditions.

Mine health summit

In this regard, the Mineral Resources Department would host a mine health and safety summit soon.

The minister also said government would push for mining companies to meet the target of the Mining Charter, which was legislated to ensure the industry is transformed and that mineworkers are skilled as one of several requirements.

“The empowerment of the youth and women will also receive priority and attention,” he said.

During his State of the Nation Address last month, President Jacob Zuma said priority would be given to creating an enabling environment in order to unlock investment.

Minister Ramatlhodi reiterated this sentiment, saying the exploration of oil and shale gas would also be a focus area for government. While government would ensure South Africans benefit from this, such work would be done in a manner that ensures the well-being of citizens and the environment.

He said government was aware of concerns raised by the mining and energy industries on amendments that were made to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

The minister said an inter-ministerial committee – comprising the Mineral Resources, Finance, Energy, Economic Development and Trade and Industry Ministries – had been established to look into those concerns.

Some of the concerns, Minister Ramatlhodi said, related to beneficiation of mined resources and oil and gas exploration. – SAnews.gov.za

The price of petrol will increase from Wednesday, the Department of energy announced on Friday.

There would be a 29 cents increase for 93 unleaded petrol (ULP) and lead replacement petrol (LRP), while 95 ULP and LRP would increase by 31 cents per litre.

Diesel will increase by 14 cents per litre, illuminating paraffin Illuminating paraffin (SMNRP) will increase by 31 cents and liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will increase by 58 cents per kilogram.

According to the department, the increase was due to changes in international factors, such as the crude oil prices, the Rand/ Dollar exchange rate and the prices of finished products.

The Rand depreciated against the US Dollar from $10.40 to $10.68 during the period under review.

“Furthermore, the crude oil price increased on average during the period under review and climbed to their highest level since September last year,” department spokesperson Johannes Mokobane explained.

The crude oil price peaked at above 115 US Dollars per barrel on 19 June 2014, which led to increase in the prices of petrol, diesel, illuminating paraffin and Liquefied Petroleum Gas in the international markets.

The department urged motorists to continue implementing fuel efficiency measures, such as using public transport and utilising lift clubs whenever possible to ensure that they save fuel. - SAnews.gov.za

South African companies will for the first time participate in the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair, in Tanzania, this week.

“As a department, we recognise the importance of increasing trade between South Africa and other countries on the continent with the aim of boosting intra-Africa trade,” Trade and Industry (dti) Minister Rob Davies said, on Sunday.

A total of 14 companies will participate in the 38th edition of the fair that will take place from 28 June to 8 July.

Minister Davies said the dti responded positively to the invitation by the organisers of the trade fair because it believes that the fair will provide a platform to strengthen bilateral trade between South Africa and Tanzania with the expectation of promoting intra-Africa trade, as well as economic integration of the continent.

“We are confident that the group of businesspeople that we have assisted to participate in the multi-sectoral international trade fair in Tanzania will not only showcase the best of the products and services that this country can offer, but will also find markets in East Africa to export their products to, and identify opportunities for investment and joint ventures,” said Minister Davies.

The participation of the companies is through the Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) scheme, which is part of the department’s export development strategy that is aimed at boosting the country’s export capacity.

The participation in the fair will enable representatives of the companies to gain regional and international business contacts from other companies exhibiting at the fair, as well as increase market knowledge about the Tanzanian market, among others.

Tanzania is South Africa’s 13th largest trading partner in Africa. Trade between South Africa and Tanzania currently stands at R4.67 billion.

During the past year, South Africa remained the 4th largest exporter to the Tanzanian market. The main products exported to Tanzania last year included base metals and articles, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, sound recorders, mineral products, prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits and transport equipment. – SAnews.gov.za