2013 Durban Action Plan: A proposal
1. Organization of the first meeting of BRICS Development Bank Working Groups to initiate set-up of the bank, agreed to during 5th BRICS Leaders Summit in Durban. Set-up of headquarters in Pretoria with the goal to begin operations in November 2013. Initiate open and merit-based selection process of first BRICS Development Bank President
2. Yearly meeting of BRICS Foreign Ministers on sidelines of UNGA
3. Set up Working Group to strengthen cooperation on principles and best practices regarding BRICS development aid, facilitate information exchange on development aid and commit to common definitions and transparency
4. Yearly meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on the sidelines of G20 meetings/other multilateral (WB/IMF) meetings
5. Meeting of financial and fiscal authorities on the sidelines of WB/IMF meetings as well as stand-alone meetings, as required. Among other issues, focus in 2013 is to implement agreed-upon quota reforms in the IMF
6. Meetings of BRICS Trade Ministers and Competition Authorities on the margins of multilateral events, or stand-alone meetings, as required, in order to reduce intra-BRICS trade tarriffs and reduce non-tarriff barriers
7. Yearly meeting of BRICS High Representatives responsible for national security and BRICS Ministers of Defense, promote military exchanges, share best practices on issues like combating piracy, cybercrime and terrorism
8. Set up Working Group to strengthen cooperation among BRICS countries vis-à-vis UN peace missions, expand debate on issues around the Responsibility to Protect
9. Set up Working Group to strengthen cooperation among BRICS countries vis-à-vis UN peace missions
10. Set up working group to implement the BRICS Leaders’ decision to implement a BRICS-wide visa-waiver policy, which allows visa-free travel of up to 90 days within the BRICS countries
11. Yearly meeting by BRICS Ministers of Agriculture, meeting of experts on agro-products and food security issues, meeting of Agriculture Expert Working Group. Set up Humanitarian Aid Working Group to stregnthen cooperation on humanitarian aid efforts by the BRICS countries
12. Yearly meeting of Senior Officials in the field of Science and Technology to expand research ties, facilitate university cooperation, and promote the exchange of researchers
13. Yearly meeting of BRICS Health Ministers, with focus on best practices on expanding universal health care
14. Yearly meeting of BRICS Education Ministers, with focus on best practices on prodiving universal access to basic education. Set-up 2-year timeline to facilitate the process of recognizing foreign academic degrees in all BRICS countries
15. Regular consultations amongst BRICS Permanent Missions in New York, Vienna and Geneva, as required
16. Consultative meeting of BRICS Senior Officials on the margins of relevant environment and climate related international fora, as necessary
17. Mid-term meeting of Sous-Sherpas and Sherpas in order to prepare the 6th BRICS Summit in 2014, to be held in Russia
18. Yearly BRICS track II Academic Forum, where think tank and university representatives discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and address global challenges
19. Yearly BRICS track III Business Forum, where private sector representatives debate ways to strengthen economic ties
20. Yearly compilation of the BRICS Report, coordinated the respective year’s host country, with its special focus on the synergies and complementarities in the BRICS economies, elaborated by the BRICS National Statistical Institutions
21. Yearly meeting of Energy and Environment Ministers to share best practices on renewable energies and green technology
22. Organization of yearly Urban Infrastructure Forum along with a BRICS Local Governments Cooperation Forum
23. Set up high-level Working Group with the task to present a concrete proposal for UN Security Council reform in December 2013
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