BRICS Group Expands with New Member Additions: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and More

The BRICS group of emerging economies, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has agreed to join Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, South African President Cyril announced today. Ramaphosa.

“As the five BRICS members, we have reached an agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process, Ramaphosa said on the last day of the XV Summit of Heads of State and Government of the group in Johannesburg, which began this Tuesday.

“We have decided to invite these countries to become full members of the BRICS from January 1, 2024,” the South African president stressed.

Ramaphosa pointed out that there is “a consensus on the first phase of this expansion process”, in a joint press conference with the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, China, Xi Jinping; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who represents Vladimir Putin.

Some forty countries had expressed their desire to join that club, according to the South African government, which this year holds the bloc’s rotating presidency and had received “formal expressions of interest” from 23 countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras and Venezuela.

China had especially supported the expansion of the BRICS, which are seeking more weight in international institutions, hitherto dominated by the United States and Europe, every time that Beijing wants to expand its influence in competition with the United States.

In the case of Argentina, Lula stressed this Tuesday that “it is very important that it be in the BRICS”. Brazil is the main trading partner of neighboring Argentina.

Brazil, Russia, India and China created the BRIC group in 2006, which South Africa joined in 2010 by adding the letter S to the acronym.

The block represents more than 42% of the world population and 30% of the planet’s territory, as well as 23% of the gross domestic product and 18% of world trade.