South African province eyes more cooperation with BRICS counterparts

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province would like to have exchange programs in sports, culture, business and academia from the BRICS countries, said KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube Sunday.

Dube-Ncube made the remarks while addressing the people at Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban and congratulating the Russian runner Alexandra Morozova for winning the Comrades Marathon 2022 in the women's category.

Dube-Ncube said the event benefited tourism and the economy, including the small enterprises in KwaZulu-Natal province. "It should be remembered that KZN hosted the most successful 5th BRICS Summit in 2013," she said, noting she would like to see more cooperation with BRICS countries.

BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

More than 15,000 athletes took part in the 89-km Comrades Marathon Sunday.

The Premier is, in particular, encouraging exchange programs for the benefit of the people of KwaZulu-Natal province. "We are exploring exchange programs in sports, culture, business -- including exchange programs involving academic institutions. We do not want to leave our cooperatives and small and medium-sized enterprises from the townships and deep rural areas. Critically, we want young people and women to benefit from such international relations. We want to ensure that they are part of building a prosperous province for future generations," Dube-Ncube said.

South Africa's Durban is a "twin city" of Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province. EThekwini municipality, the metropolitan municipality that includes Durban, is the sister city of Xiamen, east China's Fujian Province.