JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) --BRICS should continue to be the voice of the Global South for it to remain relevant, said experts at a public seminar titled "BRICS and Global South in the Plural Modernities Context" in Johannesburg on Friday.

Maxim Khomyakov, the director of the BRICS Studies Center at Ural Federal University, Russia, said BRICS managed to give a platform to African countries to discuss their concerns with BRICS.

"The BRICS sustainability depends on it continuing being the voice of the global South. It will only succeed if it becomes the vanguard of the Global South. It is a good platform to discuss common interest issues like geo-political issues, economic and terrorism. There are good things coming out of BRICS," said Khomyakov.

Khomyakov said each country in BRICS has its own agenda but the bloc is rallying point to address some issues.

He said BRICS has to overcome such challenges with rise in right wing, populism, shunning of multilateralism, adding that BRICS has to continue to articulate the voice of the Global South and give those countries a voice to air their concerns and interests.

Francis Kornegay, senior researcher at South Africa's think tank Institute for Global Dialogue, said there is a proliferation of BRICS interest.

"When BRICS was formed it had a narrow focus on strategic agenda. It has proliferated to every agenda like education, university, labor, civil society and gender. We have seen some interbank mechanism to the local currencies as opposed to the U.S. dollars which is part of the essence of the BRICS formation," he said. Enditem

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