BRICS building resilience in the Global South

The significance of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi should be measured not only by the declarations adopted but also by what BRICS countries choose to undertake after the summit.

For Indonesia, this distinction is crucial. BRICS can be a platform for emerging economies to strengthen their productive capacity, connect their industries, develop technology and establish resilient supply chains.

This is precisely the development-oriented perspective that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto took to New Delhi. Indonesia's participation in BRICS reflects a belief that cooperation among emerging economies should yield tangible benefits for their people, including food security, industrial growth, technological advancement, employment and stronger national resilience.

There is significant alignment between Indonesia's outlook and China's proposals put forward by President Xi Jinping at the summit.

Xi called for deeper cooperation in industry and supply chains, proposing a smart manufacturing cooperative initiative.

This alignment provides Indonesia and China, along with other BRICS members, an opportunity to move from political consensus toward practical cooperation.

Indonesia has abundant natural resources, a large domestic market, a young population and a strategic location connecting the Indian and Pacific oceans.

However, resources alone do not guarantee prosperity. A primary challenge for many developing countries has been their position in the global value chain.

Historically, resource-rich economies have exported raw or semi-processed materials while much of the higher-value activities — technology, advanced manufacturing, intellectual property and sophisticated industrial production — occur elsewhere.

Indonesia aims to change this structure. The goal is not just to export more commodities, but to create more value domestically.

BRICS cooperation can facilitate this transformation. A robust BRICS industrial network could leverage the diverse competitive strengths of its members: resources, manufacturing prowess, technology, capital, energy, food production, logistics and enormous consumer markets.

China has rich experience in industrialization, infrastructure, manufacturing and advanced technologies. Indonesia, meanwhile, is one of Asia's largest emerging economies and has substantial potential in minerals, energy, agriculture, maritime industries, manufacturing and the digital economy. The complementarity is evident.

The question is whether cooperation can generate deeper industrial capabilities. Can Indonesian small and medium-sized enterprises become suppliers within regional and BRICS production networks? Can cooperation in critical minerals extend into advanced materials, batteries, electric mobility and other high-value industries?

The answers to these questions will determine whether supply-chain cooperation produces lasting development. Xi's proposals in New Delhi make this discussion timely.

China expressed readiness to assist fellow BRICS countries in building smart factories and developing manufacturing standards.

This opportunity should be seized. A smart factory is more than a facility filled with machines. It embodies the integration of automation, AI, digital systems, skilled labor and modern management.

Technology cooperation is sustainable when engineers understand the technology, universities teach it, domestic companies participate in maintaining and improving it, and future generations develop their own innovations.

This is where Xi's separate proposal for a BRICS engineer cultivation alliance becomes particularly relevant. Factories and human capital must develop in tandem.

Prabowo has repeatedly emphasized national resilience as the foundation of Indonesia's development.

Resilience does not imply economic isolation.

It means ensuring that a nation has sufficient productive capacity to withstand disruptions while staying connected to international markets.

Diversification is not just an economic strategy but also a component of national and international security.

BRICS, representing major producers and consumers across continents, has an opportunity to contribute to this diversification.

Another guiding principle for Indonesia is that deepening economic cooperation within BRICS does not require distancing from other partners.

Strategic autonomy allows Indonesia to cooperate with China without becoming dependent on it; to engage with Russia without turning away from Europe; to strengthen BRICS while maintaining vital relationships with other partners.

This is not ambiguity; it is Indonesia's long-established approach to international relations. In a fragmented world, countries of the Global South should not be forced to choose between competing geopolitical camps. They should have the freedom to collaborate wherever it advances peace, development and national prosperity.

A particularly important window of opportunity is at hand. China will assume the BRICS chairship in 2027 and host the 19th BRICS Summit.

This means the ideas discussed in New Delhi need not remain aspirations. The period between New Delhi 2026 and China's BRICS presidency in 2027 can be used to identify concrete projects.

Historically, discussions about the Global South have focused on what developing countries lack. BRICS can change the conversation to what the Global South possesses: resources, markets, people, creativity and technological capability.

The underlying principle must be clear: industrial cooperation should generate mutual benefit, technological learning, local value creation and sustainable development.

If Indonesia's industrial ambitions, China's manufacturing and technological capabilities, and the complementary strengths of other BRICS members can be harnessed in a mutually beneficial framework, New Delhi may eventually be remembered as the moment when the Global South began to connect not only its political voice but also its productive power.

The author is the chairman of Foreign Policy and International Relations, Central Board of the Golkar Party, Indonesia, and a visiting professor of international relations, Tomsk State University (TSU), Russia.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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