BRICS has proved that it can function as an effective international grouping. Over the years, BRICS members have drawn closer across several sectors, with special emphasis on economic cooperation. The grouping has also expanded its membership, and the enlarged BRICS has become a new reality.
Decades of rapid growth have also given some of the grouping's members, such as China, Brazil and India, far more weight in the global economy as producers, exporters and consumers. This growing influence adds to the strength of the grouping.
Given its huge potential, the enlarged BRICS can serve as a key forum for widening intra-grouping market access in several ways. Supported by the resources of both the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, as well as China's Belt and Road Initiative, the grouping can generate a new model of development and modernization for emerging economies and the Global South in general. Such a model would operate independently of the Western-dictated framework that has long shaped global economic governance.
The enlarged BRICS could therefore foster and lead a development model focused on South-South cooperation. Through its financial and institutional mechanisms, it can offer alternatives to Western-led financial institutions by promoting local currency financing, reducing dependence on the US dollar and avoiding traditional political and policy conditionalities often attached to international lending.
Several BRICS members have already developed successful and independent paths of reform and modernization. China's model of socialism with Chinese characteristics, India's emphasis on high-end knowledge-intensive sectors and Brazil's focus on inclusive growth are important examples of self-designed development strategies.
Such development and modernization models offer humanity new choices for achieving reform and genuine development without resorting to what the West calls the "Washington Consensus", promoted by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. They show that the path to modernization depends on a country's specific political circumstances, social conditions, cultural traditions and historical experience.
In other words, there is neither a single development model that should be regarded as the only choice, nor is there a universal modernization model standard for all nations. The Chinese, Indian and Brazilian experiences are therefore very relevant to other Global South nations.
Many of the development challenges that China, India and Brazil faced are relevant to other nations, including Egypt. Combating poverty, transitioning to a new growth model, building cost-effective health systems, modernizing agriculture and enhancing industrial productivity are examples of the challenges that all Global South nations face.
The enlarged BRICS also provides emerging markets with the opportunity to align on global topics and opens new avenues to promote mutual economic growth. As the grouping continues to develop financial institutions and create new payment mechanisms for cross-border transactions, there could be significant implications for the future of global trade, energy industry, international finance, industrial supply chains, monetary policy and technological innovation.
Contrary to misconceptions, the enlarged BRICS is not intended to oppose or antagonize existing international institutions or groups. Rather, its purpose is to offer an alternative perspective within the prevailing global framework, which has long been dominated by Western developed economies.
The enlarged BRICS aspires to actively participate in international decision-making and contribute to shaping global policies in ways that reflect its members' local contexts and national priorities. This approach reflects a commitment to more inclusive participation in the international system where each member's voice is heard. As major emerging markets are part of the grouping, BRICS gives the Global South a stronger voice in global economic governance and helps balance the influence of existing Western-controlled institutions.
At the same time, there appears to be an intention to prevent the grouping from challenging the US-led global dominance. But some of the US government's actions actually have had the opposite effect. The unilateral policies of the US government and its aggressive "America First" doctrine have brought the grouping and the "middle powers" of the West closer and encouraged many countries in the Global South to pursue alternative frameworks for economic cooperation.
While Canada, France and Germany remain anchored in the Western system, the agendas of many "middle powers" align with the multipolar vision of the enlarged BRICS. It's an indication that the future of global trade lies not dominantly across the Atlantic, but with the Global South as well.
The US tariff threats have only accelerated this trend. The enlarged BRICS narrative that a more balanced and equitable international order is necessary has been reinforced by Washington's actions. The growing collaboration between the "middle powers" and the enlarged BRICS is therefore driven by necessity and nurtured by shared economic interests. This collaboration will help shape the global order into one that is more balanced, more diverse and less dependent on any single superpower.
The author is a former assistant foreign minister of Egypt, former ambassador of Egypt to China and a board member of the Egypt-China Friendship Association.
编辑：Zhou Jinmiao
