BRICS membership - milestone event for Africa - Zuma

SANYA, Hainan Province, China, April 13 (Itar-Tass) - South Africa's
membership of the group of BRICS nations is a milestone event, President
Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday in China's southernmost city of Sanya, where
the BRICS summit is opening.
"In many respects South Africa's membership of this organization will
help us to resolve priority tasks of both internal and foreign policy,
especially this concerns security and development," he said.
"South Africa's partners in BRICS (China, Russia, India, and Brazil)
are a vast and promising market for the export of goods and services from
South Africa. Many opportunities are opening up to fulfil our industrial
policy and a new growth plan," Zuma said.
The plan announced last February envisions the creation of 5 million
new jobs and reduction of unemployment to 15 percent by 2020.
BRICS five nations represent 42 percent of the world's population and
produce 18 percent of the global gross domestic product.