The meeting of the bank with the president was a great success. The bank has become an emblematic achievement of the cooperation mechanism. I think we will be able to establish a new world, a world with a multilateral order and greater cooperation.
Leaders with the president of the New Development Bank stay tuned.
Hello and welcome to Leaders Talk, where we meet leaders, thinkers, and influencers. I'm so good. On April the 29th of 2025, Chinese President visited the headquarters of the New Development Bank based here in Shanghai and held talks with President Rousseff. So what important consensus was reached during the meeting as the bank is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary? How does President Rousseff evaluate the contribution of the bank to global economic cooperation and what role she expected the global, especially the BRICS countries, could play in establishing a new global economic order? Let's find all these answers from our conversation with her.
On April 29, 2025, the New Development Bank welcomed a distinguished guest, Chinese President Xi Jinping, at its headquarters in the Expo Park of Shanghai's Pudong New Area. He was greeted by Dilma Rousseff along with the bank's four vice presidents and staff. The New Development Bank is the first multilateral development institution initiated and led by emerging markets and developing countries. In July 2014, while attending the sixth BRICS summit in Brazil, President Xi, together with then-Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and other BRICS leaders, decided to establish the New Development Bank headquartered in Shanghai, China. In 2023, she was elected president of the New Development Bank. In March this year, she was re-elected for a new term.
Madam President, you just finished a meeting with Chinese President. So how was the meeting and can you share with us some of your major takeaways and also touching on the meeting?
The meeting of the bank with President Xi Jinping was a great success. President Xi Jinping has always given support and even great help to the bank in difficult moments. In this first decade, President Xi Jinping designated this decade as a golden decade. This was a golden decade. What was important in President Xi Jinping's presence here was that we talked about the next decade, which he also said was the second golden decade, and he gave three suggestions that I think are fundamental for the bank. First, maintain the commitment to the principles that created the bank. What are they? Investing in the countries of the Global South, basically the BRICS countries. Second, building this investment in areas that are fundamental, those that make a difference for developing countries and emerging economies: infrastructure, logistics, digital, and social. And third, the commitment to investment in innovation and technology, considering that the application of technology in industrial activity, agricultural activity, in the service area, in all areas, transforms countries and makes them grow. President Xi Jinping has immense clarity regarding the direction that a bank like the NDB should take. I wanted to highlight another issue. We also discussed the concern regarding the current moment, and I expressed to the president my great respect for the firm, calm, and reaffirming position of its own sovereignty that China has manifested over this time, and the respect and admiration that the countries of the Global South have for such a calm, clear, but firm position. And what makes it evident is the fact that the president is one of the great leaders of this historical moment. We carried out a series of procedures, so many, we used the bank's space to make the visit more important, because a great leader must be received with honor and admiration. I believe it was a moment of great interaction. I think the employees' applause without stopping for President Xi demonstrates this. And I wanted to say one other thing, after all, President Xi is the father of this bank. So I believe he also has this emotional connection with the bank, right? He was there at the creation, he understands why the bank was created. This bank must fulfill this spirit, which is the BRICS spirit.
July 2015, with strong support from President Xi Jinping, the New Development Bank officially opened in Shanghai. The NDB has built a platform for equitable development over the past decade. It has become an effective tool for financial governance not only among BRICS members but also across other emerging markets and developing countries. The NDB also contributes to the development of a more multilateral and multipolar international financial system. On April 28, 2025, on the eve of President Xi's visit to the New Development Bank, President Dilma Rousseff gave an interview to Leaders Talk.
As a national leader, you have met with President Xi Jinping multiple times and discussed governance experiences. You have actually lived and worked in China for almost two years, witnessing its development and changes. What new insights do you have about President Xi's governance philosophy?
China has achieved extraordinary feats in recent times under President Xi's leadership. China has transformed into the world's second-largest economy, consolidated its position as the world's largest manufacturing powerhouse, and assumed leadership in innovation in sectors like electronics, green technologies such as electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence. I highlight a historic achievement for me, which was the lifting of 800 million people out of extreme poverty. I understand this fact very deeply because, as former president of Brazil, I led social policies that lifted millions of people out of poverty and off the UN's hunger map. I know firsthand what the challenge of overcoming poverty is, but I have the clear opportunity to know that the president achieved an unparalleled feat. I also think another relevant issue is the improvement in environmental conditions here in China, the improvement in the business environment, and the improvement in people's quality of life, which all people who visit China perceive. I have made a point of visiting Chinese companies, especially those focused on science and technology. China's transformation into a global innovation powerhouse is truly admirable. I believe the advances are a reflection of China's governments, all of them, but more recently of President Xi Jinping's governance philosophy. His thought, anchored in theoretical construction and practical experience in China's development, allowed for the construction here in China of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which constitute wonderful examples for the countries of the Global South that seek to build their own paths, because China built its own path in a sovereign and sustainable way. That is what the countries of the Global South want, to build their paths in a sovereign and sustainable way. President Xi Jinping proposes something that I consider fundamental, which is the construction of a community with a shared future for all humanity, which I believe is the main concept the president puts forward on the international stage. Look, I consider the president one of the few great international leaders of this historical moment, but I also think of another issue. I think the president is also a thinker, a thinker on governance, right? On governance and its challenges. This means he has a characteristic that, whenever possible, when I talk with President Xi, I try to extract the knowledge that I believe he has, that I establish a conversation with the president in which I try to understand more and more how he sees things. I admire President Xi Jinping's capacity to formulate, the resistance he has, and this attitude that is sovereign, firm, but not aggressive. I think that is a very big difference. It is not necessary because he assumes clear positions, has clear measures, countermeasures, and I think he will leave a very strong mark in this century, in the 21st century.
What do you think are the main achievements of the bank over the past decade?
The NDB was created with a clear mandate: to mobilize resources to finance infrastructure, finance sustainable development, energy transition in emerging markets and developing countries, and also to finance quality development in the BRICS countries, incorporating much of what China has done, for example, incorporating the need for quality industrialization, incorporating technology and innovation in all areas of society. And it also has a characteristic that I think is very important. We do not, as many multilateral banks do, we do not impose conditionality. We accept the agenda and demand of the countries. All member countries participate on an equal footing. Among us, there is no member country that controls the institution and determines what the institution does, as happens in some institutions that emerged from Bretton Woods, where the United States controls the institution and defines its conditions. We have no veto mechanism within the bank among partners. And our financing mechanisms are recognized for their flexibility and respect. We respect what countries want. The NDB also has innovative financial conditions. We adopt financing in local currencies, which helps reduce exchange rate risk and strengthen the financial stability of projects, mainly because this protects us against variations in the international market, in interest rates, and exchange rates. The bank has become an emblematic achievement of the cooperation mechanism. It reflects the spirit of BRICS, the spirit and vision of our leaders, and the spirit and partnership that is necessary between all countries in the world. To date, we have approved around 120 projects, 40 billion dollars. In a general view, we believe that development and the way China has been evolving is a kind of banner and proof that all countries in the world can develop. So we have a lot of interest in this process, which is the analysis of China's development conditions. And we also want to greatly expand our reach. And there we see expanding our members. Today, the NDB, besides the five founders, which are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, we have Egypt, Bangladesh, and the United Arab Emirates. And besides that, we are going to incorporate more members, and two have already joined, which are Algeria and Uruguay.
