MEXICO — The BRICs bloc of developing economies has admitted Indonesia as a full member, organisation chairman Brazil said.
The announcement was made yesterday by Brazil’s Foreign Ministry. Brazil is currently holding the bloc’s rotating presidency for 2025.
“The Brazilian government welcomes Indonesia’s entry into the BRICS,” it said in a statement.
“With the largest population and economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia shares with other members a commitment to reforming global governance institutions and contributes positively to deepening South-South cooperation,”
Indonesia now joins BRICS founding countries Russia, Brazil, India and China, as well as South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates, as a full-fledged member.
Indonesia was recognised as a BRICS partner country last October, along with Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in the same region.
In December, then BRICS chairman Russia said the partner country status would take effect on Jan 1, 2025 for Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Uganda, and Uzbekistan.
Indonesia’s candidacy for full membership was endorsed by BRICS in August 2023, according to reports citing Brazil’s foreign ministry, but the republic decided to postpone formal accession to the bloc until its new government was formed following national elections last year.
BRICS has a procedure for countries seeking to become full members, beginning with a formal communication of a country’s intentions, assessment by the bloc’s leaders with decisions to be made by consensus, followed by an invitation which the prospective member must formally accept.
During this period, the interested country can be considered as a prospective member state, and later, as an invited member state, before it is full member state.
Reports on BRICS, which has been drawing attention in the western media for its ascendancy as a counter to the US’ global influence, note that the bloc does not have a specific scope of engagement for “partner countries”.
But Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov was quoted by Russian media last October that partner country status is meant to assess “how ready they are for full-fledged or any other BRICS membership”.
The bloc comprises 45% of the global population and their combined economies are worth US$26.6 trillion (RM115.7 trillion) — representing 28%t of the global economy.
Last July, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when confirming Malaysia’s formal application to be a member state, said joining BRICS will offer “economic opportunities free from external pressures”. – January 7, 2025