A meeting of the General Assembly of BRICS Cities and Municipalities was held in Brazil+

A meeting of the General Assembly of the BRICS+ Association of Cities and Municipalities was held on May 28 in the Brazilian city of Marica— a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.

Representatives of more than 30 countries took part in the event, which became one of the key events in preparation for the July BRICS summit in Brazil. The main topic of discussion was solving the main problems of urban governance.

"The Association of Cities and Municipalities of the BRICS+ countries, established during Russia's BRICS presidency, gives us a real opportunity to share our experience in solving the most important problems on a neutral platform. That is why dozens of mayors from all over the world came to Marika for the General Assembly of the Association. I am glad that our Brazilian colleagues have so actively supported this initiative and are seeking its inclusion in the agenda of the Brazilian presidency at the highest level," said the Mayor of Kazan, chairman of the association during the opening of the event.

The problems of municipalities in the BRICS+ countries often turn out to be common: mayors face environmental pollution, growing urbanization, and poverty. The Association has become a successful practical tool, thanks to which in less than a year it was possible to implement several specific projects that improve inter-municipal cooperation.

For example, at the initiative of Ilsur Metshin, the Shared City digital platform was created, which allows cities to share best practices and competencies. In addition, a cooperation agreement was signed between architects from 39 participating countries of the forum.

"BRICS is often criticized as a platform for conversations only, but using the example of the association, we see how our countries are moving from words to deeds for the benefit of citizens," said Guru Ravi Ranjan Kumar, Deputy Director General of the All India Institute of Local Government.

The chief architect of Kazan, Ilsiyar Tukhvatullina, in a conversation with the Rossiya 24 TV channel, noted that representatives of municipalities from more than 20 countries expressed interest in interacting with Russian cities.

"The main goal is to establish new contacts, new connections, study the agenda, architecture of countries and cities. And we are succeeding — all our colleagues from all countries have a great desire to interact and hold joint events," she said.

The forum participants stressed the importance of the fact that the platform provides an opportunity to find international partners who are ready to share their experience in solving urban problems. In addition, during the meeting, an appeal was made to the heads of the BRICS member countries calling for the creation of "mechanisms for the exchange of experience and technologies to combat climate change."

"We are looking for our own solutions, Western countries are not ready to help us or are ready to help on terms that are beneficial only to them. BRICS and the Association give us the opportunity to strengthen our voice and ask our colleagues for practical advice, and I hope that technology exchange will begin soon," said Beke Stofile, President of the South African Local Government Association.

Representatives of Brazil, for their part, expressed confidence that the proposed initiatives will lead to more active cooperation between municipalities in the future, as well as the creation of a mechanism for more transparent and efficient financing of urban projects. For example, Eduardo Tadeo, Director General of the Brazilian Association of Municipalities, said in an interview with Rossiya 24 that not only states should have access to the resources of the New BRICS Development Bank, but also individual cities of the countries of the association.

"It is very important that access to such financing, the resources of the BRICS bank, be not only at the state level, but also at the level of specific municipalities. So that cities can receive money for projects related to infrastructure, ecology, culture," he said.

Ilsur Metshin, in turn, noted that the bank is already financing advanced projects in BRICS cities. These include, for example, sustainable energy projects in India, the modernization of the water supply system of Brazilian cities in the state of Paraiba, and a zero-carbon airport in Taiyuan.

"I am confident that by more actively including cities in the BRICS agenda, we will be able to strengthen cooperation with it, and in the future, develop new tools," the Mayor of Kazan said at the meeting.

Elena Pudova, an urban studies expert and lecturer at the RANEPA, MGIMO and HSE, also spoke about the importance of developing international investment networks.

"Along with international financing of urban projects, the best practices in construction, design and supervision always come," she believes.

Leonid Grigoriev, Research Director of the HSE Department of World Economy, noted that many financial initiatives are currently being put forward in BRICS. The idea of a BRICS currency is particularly controversial, which is "extremely difficult to implement and many countries of the association doubt the possibility of creating it."

"Expanding the role of the BRICS bank will allow us to test many practices of international financial cooperation on specific, ongoing urban projects," he added.

Thus, the Association of Cities and Municipalities of the BRICS+ countries is becoming an effective platform for international municipal cooperation implemented within the framework of the BRICS organization, and the focus of the structure created at the initiative of Russia is on projects that can directly improve the quality of life in the cities of the world's majority countries.