The Brazilian government said that Indonesia will officially join the BRICS group of major emerging economies as a full member.
The BRICS group initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but it expanded and included other countries: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE.
welcome
The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that it welcomed this announcement and that “BRICS membership is a strategic means to increase cooperation and partnership with other developing countries.”
Indonesia, the fourth largest country in terms of population, had previously expressed its desire to join the group as part of efforts to support emerging countries and serve the interests of the so-called countries of the Global South.
Brazil, which holds the group’s presidency through 2025, said member states unanimously agreed to Indonesia’s accession as part of an expansion plan first approved at a BRICS meeting in Johannesburg in 2023.
Brazil indicated that the group agreed to Indonesia’s request in 2023, but the Asian country requested to join following the presidential elections that took place last year. Prabowo Subianto assumed the presidency of Indonesia in October.
The Brazilian government said, “Indonesia partners with other members of the group in supporting the reform of global governance institutions, and contributes positively to strengthening cooperation among countries of the Global South.”
Global South Cooperation
Cooperation between countries of the “Global South” and reform of multilateral institutions are among the declared priorities of the Brazilian presidency of the BRICS group, which officially began on January 1.
One of the goals, according to the government of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is to “develop payment methods” to facilitate trade exchanges between member states.
During the last BRICS summit in November in Kazan, Russia, the group’s countries raised the possibility of abandoning the US dollar as a reference currency in exchanges.
US President-elect Donald Trump threatened the group’s countries with imposing “100% customs duties” if they created a “new currency for the BRICS countries” to replace the dollar.
This year’s BRICS summit is scheduled to be held in July in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
