From Tokyo, Japan and Changsha, China – this is Down to Business English. With your hosts Skip Montreux and Dez Morgan.
Hi Skip. How’s it going?
It’s going very well, thank you Dez.
You’re just back from your trip to the US?
I am. That’s right.
And how was that?
It was very nice. Thank you.
So, where did you go exactly?
I was in Texas to attend my nephew’s wedding.
Oh that’s right. Well weddings are always fun.
Yes, they are. And this one was especially enjoyable. It was held outdoors on a ranch about an hour and a half from Houston in very beautiful, very peaceful surroundings.
How nice. It sounds like your nephew and his wife are off to a very good start.
I think so.
So, other than the wedding, did you get up to anything else?
The trip was mainly focused on the wedding, so I didn’t do too much else. Although I did make a trip into San Antonio and did some sightseeing. I’ll tell you one thing though.
What’s that?
It’s not a good time for someone from Japan to be traveling to the US. The Yen is at its weakest level in over 35 years. It’s something like 155 yen to the US dollar.
So what you are telling me is it was an expensive trip.
Very expensive. I’m scared to look at my next credit card bill.
Well if you are going to travel there’s no way around currency exchange rates I'm afraid.
I suppose not.
Well seeing as how you were just in the US, does that mean you have a US-based business topic for us today?
Actually, no.
No?
My report today is coming out of a meeting of political leaders that took place in Kazan, Russia last month.
And what meeting was that?
It was the 16th annual BRICS Summit.
BRICS? As in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa?
That is what the acronym stands for, yes.
I must have missed that headline. I did not realize they were meeting.
It was somewhat under reported in the media.
They certainly don’t get the attention other pan national organizations get. Like the G7 or APEC, for example.
That’s very true. APEC just wrapped up a meeting in Peru earlier this month and that dominated the news.
Well, I’d certainly like to know more about this.
So let’s do it. Let’s get D2B … Down to Business with BRICS. Its aims and how It challenges G7 influence. Let’s get things started with a bit of history behind BRICS.
Always a good place to start.
Before BRICS was a group, it was a simple acronym coined by Jim O'Neill, an economist at Goldman Sachs. He came up with the term in 2001 and initially it was just four letters B - R - I - C.
No ‘S’?
No ‘S’.
Why did O’Neill come up with this term?
He used it to identify the four emerging economies that were expected to dominate global economic growth by 2050 — Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
So, some twenty years ago, BRIC was an acronym, not an official group.
That’s right.
When did it become an official group?
The Foreign ministers of those four countries started to meet informally on the sidelines of United Nations’ meetings in New York in 2006. Then in 2009, the inaugural meeting of BRIC was hosted in Russia.
So, when did South Africa join?
Do you mean, when did it become BRICS?
I do. When was the ‘S’ added?
South Africa became a member the following year, in 2010.
So they’ve been operating for 16 years. Tell me Skip, what is their mandate, or the aims of the group?
Officially, their stated goals are to promote economic cooperation, development, and a more equitable global governance structure among member countries.
A more equitable global governance structure. As opposed to other pan-national groups like the G7 or G20?
BRICS are not saying they are in opposition to the G7 or G20, but they do say those groups favor the West, and their decisions don’t align with the interests of developing economies.
I suppose they have a point there. And what is BRICS doing to achieve this ‘more equitable’ world order?
Mm. A variety of things. For instance, they encourage trade and investment among member nations. This is to foster economic development and improve access to each other's markets.
Sounds reasonable.
They are also trying to strengthen political discussions on international issues so that the interests of emerging economies are better represented on the world stage.
Nothing wrong with that.
And they want to enhance cooperation between member states in science, technology, and information sharing.
Which would drive innovation, which in turn would lead to stronger economies. All worthwhile targets really.
But perhaps the most significant topic that has been on the BRICS table ever since their very first meeting in 2009, right up until today, has been the need for a new global reserve currency.
Something other than the US dollar. Well, from the perspective of those particular countries, hey that makes sense too.
It does.
Especially when it comes to the US dollar being the primary currency used in global oil transactions.
Not to mention SWIFT, the global payment system. It is very difficult to move money around the world without access to that international banking system.
On one hand, I can clearly see the need, even the importance for an organization like BRICS, to better serve the needs of developing economies. At the same time, it's hard to believe that such a diverse group of countries could reach any type of agreement with each other.
That has always been a criticism of the group. And if it was a valid concern when BRICS first formed, it’s even truer today as more and more members start joining the group.
So, it’s not just the five countries anymore?
No. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates were all invited to the 2023 summit last summer, and then they formally joined in January this year. This group is now informally known as BRICS+.
Kind of like OPEC+.
Similar, yes. Argentina and Saudi Arabia were also invited to join.
Hold on. The idea of Saudi Arabia and Iran belonging to the same group is a little surprising. The governments of those two countries have very conflicting aims.
True, but don’t forget that they are both members of OPEC.
Sure, but that’s strictly about oil production, something they have in common. And even within OPEC, Saudi Arabia and Iran don’t always see eye to eye. And when you consider Saudi Arabia’s long standing relationship with the US, it’s a little surprising that Saudi Arabia is considering becoming a BRICS+ member.
Well don’t worry too much, Dez. Saudi Arabia announced last month that they will not be joining BRICS. Instead they will simply cooperate with the BRICS countries when and where appropriate.
In other words they’re playing both sides of the fence a bit.
Hm. That is one way to look at it.
And what about Argentina, are they playing both sides of the fence too?
No. The opposite as a matter of fact. Argentina officially declined the invitation to join BRICS at the end of last year.
And what was the reason behind that decision?
I think that is mostly down to the election of Javier Milei in November last year. As a right leaning libertarian, the economic views and political thought of his party are more closely aligned with the US than with BRICS+.
I see. So let’s back up a bit. What about the other four countries that have joined? What's the rationale there?
As you would expect, there are a variety of agendas for joining. Egypt and Ethiopia would like to attract foreign investment, particularly from China. And both countries would like to have more political influence in the region.
Those reasons make sense.
Plus, Egypt would like to be able to trade using local currencies and reduce its reliance on US dollars. Ethiopia hopes that being in the same group as Egypt will ease some of the tensions between them over their Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, or GERD project.
Ah yeah, I’ve heard about that. Ethiopia started building a hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile River back in 2011 and Egypt is not very happy about it.
What are they upset about?
The Blue Nile is a tributary of the Nile river, and something like 85% of the Nile’s water flow comes out of the Blue Nile.
Is that right? So Egypt is worried the dam will have a negative impact on their own water supply.
Very worried, in fact. I’m not sure their BRIC memberships are going to help smooth things out. I know that Egypt sent a scathing letter of protest to the UN Security Council in September over the issue, accusing Ethiopia of violating international law.
Really? I was not aware of that.
And what about Iran and the UAE? What's their motivation for joining BRICS+?
Well, as everyone knows, Iran is operating under heavy Western sanctions so they gladly welcome the alternative economic partnerships that comes with a BRICS membership. The opportunity to align with other nations that share similar views on resisting Western hegemony is an attractive one.
Of course. And the UAE?
Like Iran, The UAE is a major oil producer so they benefit from closer ties with China and India.
Two very large consumers of oil.
But on top of that, I would say Israel's war against Hamas is another reason the UAE joined.
How does that conflict play into it?
The Israel-Hamas war has created a lot of tension in the Middle East.
Clearly.
That has probably pushed the UAE to align itself more closely with other Muslim-majority countries, like Egypt and Iran.
Right. They're trying to navigate a very complex landscape and balance their relationships with Western powers as well as their regional counterparts. Do you think the UAE and Iran joining BRICS will lead to any significant changes in foreign policy?
We will see. At their meeting in Kazan in October, the group did issue a statement condemning Israeli military actions in Gaza and Lebanon and called for an immediate ceasefire.
Evidence that they’re acting as a counterweight to Western influence.
A counterweight to Western influence, yeah that is a very good way to put it.
But just how much of a counterweight can they be? BRICS+ is only nine countries after all.
Actually, it’s a little larger than that. In addition to those nine main members, 13 partner states joined last month too. Partners include Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Wow, that’s a pretty long list. And collectively they probably can be an effective counterweight to the likes of the G7.
What is interesting to me is that seven of the nine main members and eight of the 13 partner states are Global South countries.
The Global South?
The Global South refers to nations who have economies that are characterized as developing, less developed, or underdeveloped.
As opposed to the developed economies in the West. So, it includes regions such as Africa, Latin America, parts of Asia, and the Middle East.
Precisely.
China must be by far the largest economy in BRICS and therefore hold a lot of sway.
Absolutely. And in his speech at the BRICS meeting last month in Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping advocated for “a common march of the Global South towards modernity”.
In other words he is encouraging everyone to work together.
He also promoted a multipolar world order where emerging markets and developing countries will have greater opportunities to participate in global decision-making processes.
Well, that certainly sounds like a direct challenge to the status quo of the G7.
It certainly does.
So, break down the numbers for us Skip. How does BRICS+ stack up against the G7, in terms of size and economic power?
Great question Dez. G7 countries represent approximately 30% of global GDP, while BRICS+ stands at 33%. In terms of population, BRICS blows the G7 away. 3.5 billion people live in BRICS countries whereas the G7 only has a combined total population of 774 million.
That really puts things into perspective regarding the potential influence of the BRICS+ on the global stage.
It is eye opening for sure. There is no doubt that BRICS could play a crucial role in shaping economies and future policies that reflect the interests of developing nations.
And on that note, I think it's time for us to get D2V … Down to Vocabulary. I will get us started today with the business expression to put something on the table. When a topic is put ‘on the table’ it means that topic has been made available for everyone to see, discuss, or read.
It is often used in negotiations when one side puts their ideas or terms on the table and are open to negotiating them with the other side.
In the story Skip told us that the idea, or topic, of a new world reserve currency has been on the BRICS table since their first meeting in 2009.
In other words, the idea of creating an alternative to the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency is an idea BRICS has been discussing ever since it formed.
Can you give us a business example using this expression, Skip?
Imagine you want a pay raise so you go into a meeting with your boss to discuss it. He or she might tell you that business is not very good for the company at the moment, so a pay raise is off the table. However, since you are a talented employee, other means of compensation might be available or on the table.
Like a company car or a monthly housing allowance if you move into the company dormitory?
Exactly.
In that example, notice that the opposite of ‘on the table’ is ‘off the table’.
Moving on, we have another common business phrase that uses the phrasal verb to back up. The expression is to back up a bit.
The phrasal verb ‘back up’ has several meanings. So to understand this idiom, you need to understand the context in which it’s used. It could mean, to literally move backwards. It could mean to make duplicates, or copies of computer files. Or it could mean to support someone.
That is all very true. And if someone says it in conversation, they could be indicating that they want to return to a topic that was mentioned earlier in your discussion.
And that is how it was used in our report.
That’s right. At one point in our conversation, after I had explained why Argentina had declined their invitation to join BRICS, Dez told me to back up a bit and asked about the four countries that had joined the organization in January.
Skip had previously mentioned them, but had so far only reported about the countries who had not joined BRICS. So, I wanted to return to those four countries and get more information about why they joined.
It’s not a difficult expression, and it's very useful for controlling the discussion points in a meeting.
Our final word for D2V today is the noun hegemony, which means leadership or dominance of one country or group over others in a particular area.
It’s interesting that British and American pronunciation is different for this word. American English uses a soft ‘g’ and British English uses a hard ‘g’. So, I pronounce it ‘hegemony’.
And I pronounce it as ‘hegemony’. In the report, Skip mentioned that one reason for Iran joining BRICS was that they wanted to align themselves with nations that share their views on resisting Western hegemony.
I was saying that one reason Iran joined BRICS was they wanted to have closer relationships to other nations who had the same views about resisting Western dominance in economics and political power.
Can you give us an example from the business world using hegemony, Skip?
Sure. There has been a lot of discussion in US courts recently about breaking up Alphabet, the parent company of Google because it holds such a strong hegemony over the search engine market.
You and Samantha reported on that in D2B 337 - Google’s Antitrust Battles.
Yes, we did.
A similar action was issued against Alibaba in March 2023, when the company was restructured into six independent companies.
You and I reported on that in D2B 256 back in May last year. Alibaba’s Big Break up and the Return of Jack Ma.
We did? It must have slipped my mind.
No worries Dez. At our age, memory slips are a part of life.
Would you like to help D2B reach more people wanting to improve their Business English skills? Be sure to follow D2B on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or any place podcasts are found. While you are there, leave a rating and a review and tell everyone how much you enjoy the show.
And that is our report on BRICS. We hope you enjoyed it and found it informative.
The Bonus vocabulary episode for today’s D2B will drop in the next few days.
The words and phrases we will focus on in that Bonus D2V episode will be — to foster, to be diverse, to see eye to eye, a counterweight, and to hold sway.
If you’re a D2B member, that bonus D2V episode will be in your Members-only RSS feed very soon. So you want to make sure to have copied your Members-only RSS URL from your account on the D2B website and pasted it into your favorite podcast app.
And Apple Podcast subscribers, you don’t need to do anything. The Bonus D2V episode will appear automatically in your Apple Podcast app as soon as we release it.
Thanks to all of you for your support.
And if you are not a D2B member or Apple Subscriber, please do consider becoming one. They are great ways to support Down to Business English and will help us provide more D2B episodes on a regular basis.
To become a D2B member directly through our website, go to d2benglish.com/membership and sign up today.
That’s d2benglish.com/membership.
And to subscribe through Apple Podcasts, just visit the Down to Business English show page in the Apple Podcast app and click on the subscribe button.
Thanks for listening everyone. See you next time.
Bye bye.
Down to Business English … Business News, to improve your Business English.