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Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South African President Jacob Zuma, Brazilian President Michel Temer, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a dialogue with representatives of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Business Council in the western Indian state of Goa, Oct. 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)
GOA, India, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to business leaders to work with BRICS governments to boost trade and promote innovation.
Addressing a meeting of the BRICS Business Council at the eighth BRICS Summit held on Oct. 15-16 in Goa, Modi also called on the BRICS Business Council to contribute to enhancing business opportunities, building investment linkages and removing bottlenecks to intra-BRICS commerce.
The promotion of economic and commercial engagement has been a foundational impulse in the creation of BRICS, said the Indian prime minister, adding that the business community are the strongest proponents for closer and faster commercial cooperation that could help create wealth.
"The council's work holds much promise for expansion of trade and business among BRICS countries," he said.
He also encouraged the council to work closely with the New Development Bank, a multilateral development bank founded by the BRICS countries, on identifying and implementing prospective economic projects.
Speaking at the same occasion, South African President Jacob Zuma also commended the work of the council.
"The BRICS Business Council activities since undertaken through Durban Summit and the corresponding initiatives by the BRICS governments have brought us to a point where the council can be a true catalyst for economic growth," he said.
Various BRICS undertaking need to culminate in growing investments, and expanding value-added trade between BRICS which should also support integration into global value chains, Zuma said, while urging the business leaders to continue advancing the economic agenda of the BRICS.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will continue to promote rapprochement of economies of the five BRICS countries, create prerequisites for the launch of new business projects and invites business community of all the BRICS countries to work on Russia's market, develop partnership with the Russian companies, Russian media quoted Putin as saying during the meeting.
The BRICS leaders take into account an opinion of the business community on the development of prospective plans on trade, economic and investment cooperation within the framework of the five-member group, Putin said, according to Sputnik.
The Russian president stressed that Moscow would continue to strongly support the BRICS Business Council as an important mechanism for strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation of the BRICS countries.
The BRICS Business Council was established during the fifth BRICS Summit held in 2013 in Durban, South Africa.
