CNBC Africa hosts 'BRICS Trade & Industry Ministers Debate'

26 Mar 2013

CNBC Africa, the continent's business television news channel, will be hosting a panel discussion titled, 'BRICS Trade & Industry Ministers Debate'. The debate which is sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry - South Africa, (DTI), was broadcast yesterday, 26 March 2013 between 2pm and 3pm (CAT) on DStv.

BRICS is an acronym for the powerful grouping of the world's leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The first BRIC Summit took place in Yekateringburg, Russia, where the elected leaders of the four countries formally declared the membership of the BRIC economic bloc. South Africa joined the bloc in 2010, resulting in BRICS.

The panellists at the debate include:

Rob Davies - minister of Trade and Industry, South Africa

Fernando Pimentel - minister of Development Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazil

Andrei Belousov - minister of Economic Development, Russia

Anand Sharma - minister of Commerce and Industry, India

Chen Demeng - minister of trade and Industry, China

CNBC Africa chief editor, Godfrey Mutizwa, will moderate the live panel discussion.

Issues and questions that will be tackled during the debate include how the minister's plan to further develop trade links? How would they use the BRICS platform to gain a competitive advantage on the global stage? The types of ranges of political and entrepreneurial coordination, in which the member countries have identified business opportunities, economic complementarities and areas of cooperation.

Catch the debate live from the BRICS heads of state gathering on Tuesday, 26 March at 2pm CAT and also the daily crossings from BRICS in Durban 25-27 March sponsored by ACSA (Airports Company South Africa) on CNBC Africa, channel 410 on DStv.