Durban - Trade unionists have welcomed the idea of a Brics development bank, but said on Monday it should not function the same way as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The proposed Brics Bank "should... primarily be developmental in character," they stated in a declaration released by the Second Brics Trade Union Forum in Durban on Monday.
Brics is the group of developing nations Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
The leaders of the five Brics nations are expected to sign an agreement on Wednesday formally setting up the proposed bank.
"We envisage the Brics Development Bank solely owned by Brics, publicly funded, taking all decisions on consensus, promoting trade based on own currencies of its member countries, with a core focus on infrastructure and development in consultation and approval by all stakeholders, inclusive of the community and trade unions," the trade unionists said in the declaration.
Trade unions should be represented at the highest levels, they said.
South African trade union representatives, including the Congress of SA Trade Unions and the Federation of Unions of SA, and representatives of the other four Brics nations, met in Durban at the weekend.
The declaration called for greater industrialisation among Brics members, and trade which benefited all the members of the grouping.
The proposed Brics Bank "should... primarily be developmental in character," they stated in a declaration released by the Second Brics Trade Union Forum in Durban on Monday.
Brics is the group of developing nations Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
The leaders of the five Brics nations are expected to sign an agreement on Wednesday formally setting up the proposed bank.
"We envisage the Brics Development Bank solely owned by Brics, publicly funded, taking all decisions on consensus, promoting trade based on own currencies of its member countries, with a core focus on infrastructure and development in consultation and approval by all stakeholders, inclusive of the community and trade unions," the trade unionists said in the declaration.
Trade unions should be represented at the highest levels, they said.
South African trade union representatives, including the Congress of SA Trade Unions and the Federation of Unions of SA, and representatives of the other four Brics nations, met in Durban at the weekend.
The declaration called for greater industrialisation among Brics members, and trade which benefited all the members of the grouping.