Deepening Global South cooperation

Financiers agree on greater role in world's development, bridging tech gaps

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KARACHI:

Economic nationalists and champions in the Global South have adopted a consensus document in a bid to foster financial cooperation among their countries for a better future and to ensure international financial stability as not a single nation can address pressing issues alone.

Representatives of a moot called for bridging the North-South gap in international financial governance, while stepping up communication and cooperation as well as making all-out efforts to address challenges such as the rundown and improper infrastructure, weak industrial foundations, unequal access to technology, increasing negative impact of climate change and others.

The three-day 2025 Global South Financiers Forum was held from March 19 to 21 in Beijing and attended by a vast array of scholars, representatives of government departments, national, international and financial organisations and media houses from over 30 countries and regions. The summit focused on sci-tech innovation, green and digital finance development and the like.

Undoubtedly, the financial sectors play a vital role in growing the national economy of any country in the world. This kind of sentiment was highlighted in discussions throughout the moot. This year's forum has achieved remarkable consensus to increase its role in world's development through fairer and more equitable global economic governance. Their unanimity to address large financing gaps, misallocation of development resources and a widening technological gap among countries of the Global South has holistic and comprehensive policy dimensions.

Moreover, the consent on rectifying their vulnerable financial architecture and infrastructure amid rising geopolitical tensions, climate change and rapid digital transformation is a giant step towards financial security by securing their vested interests.

Their understanding to help make the international order more just and equitable and work jointly to improve international financial governance through promoting a diversified, flexible financial ecosystem and a more inclusive cooperation framework will help them play a larger role in global governance, which is the need of the hour.

What's more, US President Donald Trump's thundering tariffs therapy, inconsistent economic policies, obsessive geopolitical ambitions and reemergence of military complex theory against China and its allies in the Global South have rattled the world economy as well as markets.

This approach urgently requires a stable and sustainable economy, a rule-based international trading system and a just and fair global governance system. Thus, close financial cooperation, banking integration, community development, institutionalisation of e-commerce and financial digitalisation must mitigate the socio-economic repercussions of the ongoing US follies trying to take hostage the world economy and markets.

"It is suggested that these countries should create a Global South bank, unified payment system, combined treasury market and financial houses for achieving their desired goals and nullifying external shocks," eminent regional expert and Centre for South Asia and International Studies Islamabad Executive Director Dr Mehmoodul Hassan Khan said.

He said that modern economic prophecies suggested that the 21st century belonged to the East, China and the Global South. More than 85% of emerging economies belong to this part of the world. The Global South, under the leadership of China, has become a symbol of innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), digitalisation, global supply chains, hybrid agriculture and above all trans-regional connectivity, which have immensely supported regional as well as world economy in establishing a new financial order.

Furthermore, the formation of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) bloc and its strategic expansion in Africa, Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East further strengthen the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Belt and Road Initiative, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor along with Xi's global initiatives of development, security and civilisation. They have the ability to form a new financial order to equally cater to the needs of the Global South and North in future.

Many reports of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have confirmed economic stability and sustainability during 2025 in countries of the Global South. These states have become the engine of global economy, manufacturing hubs and champions of global supply chains with their combined gross domestic product (GDP) accounting for over 40% of the globe and contributing 80% of the global economic growth over the past two decades.

Thus, it plays an increasingly influential role in world's development. Being the largest developing country, China is closely working with other Global South countries to address common challenges and strive hard for shared growth. Its financial institutions have provided diversified services to the Global South through credit supply, cooperation funds and bond financing as well as ramped up financial support for infrastructure projects.

"Obviously, the America First policy, wild fantasies of Trumponomics through the imposition of new 20% tariffs and duties on China, economic protectionism, unilateral imposition of trade, investment, technological and business sanctions, denial of effective role of the World Trade Organisation, US withdrawal from the World Health Organisation and Paris Climate Change Forum and rumours of quitting the World Bank and the IMF are giving a tough time to the Global South," Khan said.

On top of that, the ongoing trade war with China, constant and continued enforcement of decoupling, de-linking and widespread sponsored propaganda about collapse of China's economy are potential threats to all countries of the Global South, which may be averted through China's contributory role, having close financial cooperation, forming of a development bank and deep structuring of financial, money and bond markets.

According to Xinhua, many attendees of the forum acknowledged the crucial role of the financial sector in driving the growth of economies in the Global South, noting also that the Global South as a whole suffers from the lack of representation within the international, Global North-dominated financial architecture.

Countries in the Global South have achieved remarkable economic growth, which has not only injected stability and vitality into the world economy but also helped stabilise the global financial landscape, said Jiao Jie, Dean of Tsinghua University's PBC School of Finance. The Global South – a bloc of developing countries, emerging economies and the world's least-developed nations – still faces disparity between economic contributions and influence in the current international financial system.

Insufficient infrastructure, for example, has become a significant obstacle to progress for many countries, according to Klaus-Dieter Kaempfer, Chief Executive of Absa China, who estimates that middle and low-income countries will need to invest approximately $2.7 trillion annually to meet infrastructure demand by 2040.

The writer is a staff correspondent