BRICS emerged as a group of the world’s four largest developing economies in 2009. At that time, it included Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Later, the association expanded. Today we have with us in the studio a representative of one of the founding countries of BRICS, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Aleksander Zhukov. What is the significance of parliamentary diplomacy?

BRICS is an association of countries that are building a strategic partnership on key issues relating to global security, the fair distribution of economic resources, international exchange, and many other areas.

The 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum discussed important issues related to healthcare, regulation of artificial intelligence, climate, and the development of the economies of the association’s countries. It is very important that parliaments participate in these discussions, as this gives us the opportunity to develop common approaches to the legislative regulation of the issues under consideration. We can determine how parliaments help the governments of our countries to implement policies aimed at achieving the goals proclaimed by BRICS, namely: a multipolar world, fair distribution of economic resources, support for the Global South, and much more.

Russia, India, and China have achieved impressive success in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital governance. How do you assess the possibility of transferring this knowledge and technology to other countries in order to support the development of BRICS partner states?

At one of the sessions, we discussed the issue of AI development and regulation. Artificial intelligence is one of the most important technologies of the 21st century, linked to human progress in the economy, creative industries, and other areas. You mentioned China, India, and Russia as countries where the AI industry is booming. I would add Brazil to that list.

In Russia, we are seeing a huge leap in the development of artificial intelligence. In Moscow, more than 60 per cent of all enterprises have started using AI in their activities over the past two years. This applies to a wide variety of areas, but first and foremost, I would mention the healthcare sector. AI now helps doctors make accurate diagnoses by analysing huge amounts of different data. In the capital, artificial intelligence also helps regulate traffic and make administrative decisions. This year, the Russian government used this technology when forming the country’s federal budget. AI has also seen significant development in the creative industries.

Russia holds large conferences on artificial intelligence every year in order to share our achievements with other countries. We advocate for AI to be accessible to the whole world, including developing countries and the Global South. There should be no secrets here; we try to share the knowledge we have.

On the other hand, there is a serious danger associated with the uncontrolled development of this sector. In particular, artificial intelligence works with large amounts of people’s personal data. There is a risk of this data being leaked and used for selfish purposes. It is necessary to develop common regulatory documents and laws for the BRICS countries that will determine how AI should be regulated so that it is safe to use.

Russia has developed a code of ethics in the field of artificial intelligence, which we are ready to share with all countries. The President has approved a comprehensive AI development programme and adopted a model law for the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regulating the work of artificial intelligence. We are also ready to share this with all countries. This was discussed at the forum.

Artificial intelligence opens up enormous prospects for humanity, but at the same time poses a great danger. Therefore, we are grateful to the Brazilian side for bringing this issue up for discussion at the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum.

It is worth noting that the role of parliaments in this case is particularly important, since AI regulation must be carried out through the adoption of laws. It is desirable that these laws be unified for different countries so that legislation ensuring the safety, effectiveness and inclusiveness of artificial intelligence is adopted through the joint efforts of the BRICS countries.

What reforms do you think are necessary to improve the work of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)?

The World Trade Organisation was created to ensure that world trade is conducted on equal and fair terms. Unfortunately, today we see that the WTO is effectively not functioning because its main institution, the court, which can make decisions on contentious issues, is not working. As a result, we see that the countries that were at the forefront of the WTO’s formation are now themselves grossly violating the basic principles of the organisation’s formation and activities.

We see that a huge number of various sanctions are being applied that are in no way provided for by international law and that contradict the UN Charter. More than 20,000 (now, I think, already about 30,000) various economic sanctions that contradict the WTO Charter have been imposed on Russia alone.

We see that developed countries are setting completely insane rates and tariff restrictions, which also completely contradict the WTO Charter. Therefore, it is obvious that a serious reorganisation of this structure is required.

Today, the BRICS countries produce about 40 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product, and in terms of population, they account for more than half of the Earth’s inhabitants. At the same time, their representation and rights in various international organisations – not only the WTO, but also the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and many others – are significantly less than they should be based on a comparison of the economies of the countries participating in the regulation of these organisations.

Therefore, we advocate that the BRICS countries work together to ensure that the World Trade Organisation functions fairly and truly contributes to the expansion of world trade.

Video provided by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies.

Photo: screenshot from an interview