JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — The BRICS is playing an increasingly important role in promoting global economic growth, advancing South-South cooperation and strengthening the voice of developing countries amid a world of uncertainty, a South African academic has said.

With its growing economic weight, expanding markets and deepening cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure and technology, the BRICS is well positioned to contribute more to the development of the Global South and a more diversified global economy, Zamokuhle Mbandlwa, a professor at the Durban University of Technology, said in a recent interview with Xinhua ahead of the upcoming 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India.

« The contribution of the BRICS to global growth is significant, structural and increasingly strategic, » said Mbandlwa, also a member of the BRICS Research Institute, a South African research organization based at the university.

Mbandlwa said the group’s large and growing populations are creating substantial demand for goods, services, infrastructure and technology, generating wider benefits through trade and investment.

Against a sluggish global growth, geopolitical tensions, rising protectionism and supply-chain disruptions, the BRICS is also providing an important platform for developing economies to diversify economic ties and strengthen resilience, Mbandlwa said.

« BRICS can become one of the principal engines of a more diversified and multipolar global economy, but this potential will depend on the depth of economic integration rather than simply the size of the grouping, » he said.

Greater intra-BRICS trade and investment, infrastructure connectivity, technological cooperation, local-currency financing and interoperable payment systems could help translate the grouping’s economic weight into practical development outcomes, the professor added.

According to Mbandlwa, the expansion of the BRICS has strengthened its collective economic weight and opened up more opportunities for trade, investment, financial cooperation and South-South economic partnerships.

He said the diverse strengths of BRICS economies in energy, agriculture, manufacturing and technology provide considerable scope for greater complementarity and more robust supply chains.

« In an uncertain global environment, diversified BRICS supply chains could provide members with greater economic stability and strategic autonomy while creating a larger, more integrated market for sustainable growth, » Mbandlwa added.

Mbandlwa also highlighted China’s « significant and increasingly practical role » in advancing BRICS economic cooperation.

Cooperation with China in investment, digital infrastructure, renewable energy, e-commerce and artificial intelligence has helped BRICS members strengthen technological capabilities and narrow development gaps, he said.

« China’s emphasis on openness and shared development also supports more inclusive innovation partnerships, particularly for emerging economies, » said Mbandlwa.

Looking ahead, Mbandlwa said the significance of the BRICS extends beyond economic growth, with the grouping providing a platform for collective economic influence, South-South cooperation and a more representative global order.

The BRICS demonstrates how developing countries can work together to expand trade, mobilize investment, build infrastructure and strengthen technological capabilities without relying exclusively on traditional centers of economic power, he said.

« Stronger BRICS cooperation is therefore not about creating an alternative closed economic bloc » but about fostering a more « representative global economy, » he said.

Mbandlwa said that the strategic opportunity lies in moving from « BRICS as a group of large economies » toward « BRICS as an integrated platform for Global South growth, investment, innovation and economic resilience. » ■