Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia are also set to join the bloc in 2024, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced.
Six countries — including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Iran — will become new members of the BRICS bloc of developing economies in January.
Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia are also set to join the bloc in 2024, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
BRICS is currently made up of the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Those five members agreed at this week’s summit to expand the bloc.
“We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of BRICS. The membership will take effect from the first of January 2024,” Ramaphosa told the summit.
It’s the second time that BRICS has decided to expand. The bloc was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa was added in 2010. The BRICS bloc represents around 40 percent of the world’s population and contributes more than a quarter of the global GDP.
Three of the group’s other leaders are attending the summit and were present alongside Ramaphosa for the announcement, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to the summit after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March. He participated in the summit virtually, while Russia was represented at the announcement in Johannesburg by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Calls to enlarge the BRICS had dominated the agenda at its three-day summit and exposed divisions among the bloc over the pace and criteria for admitting new members.
But the group, which makes decisions by consensus, had agreed on “the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process”, said Ramaphosa.
Nearly two dozen countries had formally applied to join the club.
Some 50 other heads of state and government are attending the summit in Johannesburg, which concludes on Thursday.
(TRT WORLD)
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