Over 100 mayors will gather in Kazan for the founding meeting of the Association of Cities of BRICS+ Countries

Over 100 mayors will gather in Kazan for the founding meeting of the Association of Cities of BRICS+ Countries

<p> Foundation of the Association of Cities of BRICS+ Countries was supported by over 100 municipalities from around the world. This was announced by the Vice Mayor of Kazan, Evgenia Lodvigova. Representatives of the cities from Brazil, India, Iran, China, South Africa, Turkey, Chile, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and other countries will gather for the first founding meeting of the association scheduled for 21 June in Kazan. </p> <p> The foundation of the association was announced in February this year by the Kazan mayor Ilsur Metshin addressing the BRICS countries ambassadors at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in Moscow. The meeting featured country's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, rector of the academy Alexander Yakovenko, representatives of the embassies of Brazil, the UAE, India, China and Egypt. </p> <p> “Municipalities of friendly countries should have their own voice at the international arena. We have long lived according to the western tracings. But we have our own stupendous heritage and rich experience in settling down current urban problems. Today the time has come for more active engagement, establishing economic, cultural and scientific ties for mutual enrichment and development. Today, the need to create such a structure is evident,” said the head of the capital of Tatarstan. </p> <p> Ilsur Metshin addressed the BRICS countries ambassadors with a request to support the idea and invited the representatives of friendly countries to the first founding meeting of the Association of BRICS Cities. Moreover, the format of the upcoming event goes beyond the participation of the association countries only, therefore its status was set as “BRICS+”. </p> <p> As Evgenia Lodvigova explained, there are still confirmations of arrival in Kazan coming from the mayors of cities from around the world, so the final list of the founding meeting participants will be available later. Nevertheless, it is now that we can say the event will be representative and will reflect the interests of different countries. </p>

2024-06-04T11:04:00+0300