20 Countries Applying for BRICS Economic Bloc Membership
(15 June 2023 – Global) Up to 20 countries have declared interest in joining the Brazil, Russia, India, China and newly added South Africa (BRICS) economic bloc ahead of a summit in August.
Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all expressed interest in joining the bloc with a stated aim of unseating the US Dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Russia favours the idea of accepting Arab and Asia-Pacific countries as the economic bloc lacks balanced geopolitical representation.
“The list of candidates for joining the association continues to increase. The number of states seeking to join this association is nearing twenty. It reflects BRICS’ growing and already considerable role in the international arena as an association of countries with similar positions. Discussions continue on what could be the criteria for joining BRICS, and South Africa has intensified this work,"” stated Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
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