On 23 April the dti issued a press release stating that the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Ministers of Trade had urged their fellow G20 Trade Ministers to strengthen coordination in promoting a concerted response to current economic uncertainties. The call was made at the G20 Trade Ministerial Meeting that was held in Mexico. The themes for discussion included “trade as a source of growth”, “trade as a source of jobs”, and “the imperative to keep markets open and to keep opening markets.” South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says the BRICS Ministers have called upon their fellow G-20 Trade Ministers to identify ways to improve the multilateral trading system. “We have made this call, so that all economies may pursue a sustainable and “development-friendly” integration in global trade, including adjustment strategies for their industries and workforce, as well as the appropriate social and sectoral policies to respond to existing structural vulnerabilities.” The Ministers have re-emphasised their commitment to the Doha Development Round and say the conclusion of the Doha would be a significant step in this direction. “The BRICS WTO members will continue their efforts for the successful conclusion of the Doha Round, based on the progress made and in keeping with its mandate, while upholding the principles of transparency, inclusiveness and multilateralism. We encourage all G20 economies to work constructively toward this end in pursuance of the collective decision taken at the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference,” said Davies. According to BRICS Ministers, their countries take note of the increasing role of global value chains in trade. However they noted that many sectors, industries and even countries were not participating in global value chains as fully as some others. “In order for global value chains to serve as instruments of growth and development, it would be important to develop a deeper understanding of their developmental impact and the conditions under which they can be used to achieve long term socio-economic gains. In addition, attention should be paid to not impose obstacles for the development and effective functioning of global value chains, for protectionist reasons. In this context, it would be useful to have a member-driven process, in the WTO, UNCTAD and other intergovernmental agencies, to examine this issue, including the identification of more accurate statistical methods to assess value addition,” added Davies.