The BRICS group of nations, which are getting ready for its annual conference in South Africa, have received interest from as many as 19 countries. The BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—will gather in Cape Town on June 1-2 to talk about the grouping’s potential growth.
The growth of BRICS and the methods for doing so would be discussed, according to South Africa’s ambassador to the organisation, Anil Sooklal, as quoted by Bloomberg. Six other nations have made informal requests, adding to the formal requests from 13 countries. Every day, applications to join arrive.
Other nations who have expressed an interest in joining include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, and Indonesia.
The BRICS will be expanding, and the procedures for doing so, will be discussed at the meetings in June, which the foreign ministers of the five member states have all agreed they will attend. In addition to routine business and membership, Sudan will be a topic of discussion among the states, Sooklal added.
With roughly one-fifth of the global economy, the BRICS have become a strong new voice competing with the West. Currently, the five BRICS members contribute about 24% of the world’s GDP and 16% of its trade.
South Africa was the only nation to join BRICS after it was established in December 2010; the group was founded on June 16, 2009.
In an effort to increase its diplomatic power and challenge the West’s supremacy within the UN, China started the discussion about extending the organisation last year. The expansion worries the current members, though, who fear that their influence will decline, particularly if pro-Chinese countries are allowed. China’s GDP is more than twice as large as the combined GDPs of the other four BRICS nations.
