India welcomes Egypt as member of New Development Bank of BRICS

What is the news?

India has welcomed Egypt as the fourth new member of the New Development Bank (NDB).

What is the New Development Bank (NDB)?

It is a multilateral development bank jointly founded by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) at the 6^th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil in 2014. The Bank formally came into existence in 2015.

Purpose: To mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging economies.

Projects: Projects in areas such as transport, water and sanitation, clean energy, digital infrastructure, social infrastructure and urban development are within the scope of the bank.

Members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Uruguay and Egypt.

UN Observer Status: In 2018, the NDB received observer status in the UN General Assembly, establishing a firm basis for active and fruitful cooperation with the United Nations.

The Bank’s Articles of Agreement specify that all members of the United Nations could be members of the bank.However, the share of the BRICS nations can never be less than 55% of voting power.

Headquarters: Shanghai, China.

Source: This post is based on the article ‘India welcomes Egypt as member of New Development Bank of BRICS’ published in The Hindu on 1^st Jan 2021.