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BRICS competitiveness based on innovation capabilities - VEB deputy chairman

"As for BRICS, we have everything necessary to launch great innovations and compete with the West," First Deputy Chairman of Russia’s state-owned VEB Nikolay Tsekhomsky said

BEIJING, September 2. /TASS/. BRICS is a unique mechanism of international interaction as it has huge innovation capabilities making its member states able to compete with developed countries, First Deputy Chairman of Russia’s state-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB) Nikolay Tsekhomsky said in an interview with TASS on Saturday.

"This is where the uniqueness of BRICS lies - it has everything, including such large markets as China and India, production capabilities, a funding base, as well as innovation capabilities," he said. "As for BRICS, we have everything necessary to launch great innovations and compete with the West," Tsekhomsky added.

According to him, this is the starting point for debates. "It has prompted a lively discussion with banks on whether we can launch a joint project, what we are capable of doing, and what it will require," Tsekhomsky noted.

The VEB first deputy chairman pointed out that Russia had always been an invention industry leader so the innovation capacity of the BRICS member states provided numerous opportunities to the country. "We have not come up with many innovations yet, the reason being the lack of funding for private initiatives, as well as of the market necessary for big projects. There is also no appropriate ecosystem for manufacturing new products," Tsekhomsky stressed.

The VEB first deputy chairman has arrived in China ahead of the BRICS summit, scheduled to be held in Xiamen on September 3-5.

BRICS is an informal association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The group, founded in June 2006 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, seeks to ensure sustainable, open and transparent dialogue and cooperation between member states. The first BRICS summit was held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in 2009.

Apart from the group’s members, five more countries will also take part in the Xiamen summit - Egypt, Mexico, Guinea, Tajikistan and Thailand.

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