There is a saying that “Unity prevails over heaven.”

Close multilateral collaboration and cooperation among different countries of the world further promoted the socio-economic development and progress last year.

South-South cooperation promotes world's multipolarization

Cooperation was enhanced among the developing countries.

Today South-South cooperation is being conducted in the political, economic, military and various other fields comprehensively, extensively and in depth. BRICS is a typical example.

Founded mainly by the newly emerging economies by reflecting the trend of the times aspiring to multipolarization of the world, BRICS is emerging as an organization for strategic cooperation, steadily expanding the scope of cooperation.

The nine-member organization intends to continuously expand itself. Many countries have already expressed their willingness to join it.

The 16th BRICS Summit held in Kazan, Russia, in October last year clearly showed the standpoint and will of the newly-emerging economies and developing countries to resolutely oppose and reject the present international economic order which legalizes the old order, domination, plunder and the law of the jungle on which the US and the West insist, and to establish a fair and new world order based on the principles of independence, equality and mutual benefit.

The developing countries have strengthened their political and economic ties and taken a common viewpoint and attitude towards many international issues through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, ASEAN, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the “Alternative Bolivariana para la America” (ALBA) besides BRICS.

The African Union held the sixth intermediate coordination meeting in the capital of Ghana. Held on the theme of "Educate and train Africa as required by the 21st century", the meeting discussed the issues of resolving disputes, containing violence and promoting economic integration with concerted efforts.

For defence of national sovereignty, economic development

Unity and cooperation between nations are directed towards rejecting the domination and intervention by the US and the West, defending national sovereignty and developing the economy.

Iran and Venezuela have boosted close cooperation in recent years in the face of the harsh sanctions of the US. The acting foreign minister of Iran and the Venezuelan foreign minister met in June last year and discussed the issue of further expanding the bilateral relations and cooperation to counter the US sanctions. The Iranian minister of defence and armed forces logistics and the Venezuelan transport minister who are co-chairmen of the joint economic cooperation committee expressed their stand to jointly cope with the US interventionist moves in a telephone conversation.

The commander-in-chief of the Iranian army and the commander of the air and anti-aircraft force of Belarus met in Tehran, the capital of Iran, in August last year to express their will to oppose the unilateralism of the US and the expansion of NATO and bolster up the military cooperation between the two countries. Saying that the two countries are facing a common threat, they affirmed their commitment to increased cooperation without being hampered by the harsh sanctions of the US and the West.

Multilateral cooperation for socio-economic development has also widely been encouraged between nations.

Many-sided exchanges and cooperation between the DPRK and Russia grew closer last year. The treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and the Russian Federation came into force on December 4, providing them with a legal framework for building a powerful state while lifting the bilateral relations to a new strategic height and firmly defending the security environment of the region and the world in conformity with the common interests.

In November last year the first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Sochi, Russia. Attended by more than 1 500 representatives of 54 countries including over 40 ministers of African countries, the meeting discussed the issue of strengthening cooperation in socio-economic development, anti-terrorism campaign and others and issued a joint statement.

Tajikistan and Pakistan signed an agreement on strategic partnership and on the same day seven documents, including the 2025-2026 cooperation plan between the foreign ministries of the two countries, were inked.

The talks between foreign ministers of India and Saudi Arabia discussed the issues of promoting strategic partnership in various fields including trade, investment, energy, defence, security, culture and consular relations.

Amid the escalated tension in the Middle East, Iran actively promotes multi-faceted cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and other regional countries.

The 10th meeting of the Turkiye-Qatar supreme strategic committee, attended by the Turkish president and the emir of Qatar, held a discussion on strategic relations between the two countries covering all fields and reviewed the bilateral partnership cooperation in trade, investment, energy and others. Immediately after the meeting, the two countries signed eight agreements on information, communications, military cooperation and others.

The world's multipolarization progresses steadily thanks to the positive activities of many countries for social stability and development.