The three-day summit of the tile countries in Johannesburg in South Africa ended on Thursday with the news that six new countries are now being invited as members. Among the countries that have shown interest in joining Brics are Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia.
According to the leader of the meeting, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, they have been offered membership. If they accept, the membership will be effective from January 1, 2024.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced the news alongside Cyril Ramaphosa at a press conference on Thursday.
– The expansion is historic. It shows our determination to unify and develop Brics, Xi Jinping said, according to the Reuters news agency.
Alternative payment system
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, says he looks forward to being part of the Brics group.
– We look forward to developing a collaboration to create new economic opportunities, he tells Reuters.
During the meeting, Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. During the meeting, he revealed that Brics is planning an alternative payment system.
President Vladimir Putin has attended the meeting via link as he is internationally wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Brics today consists of China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and India. The five countries’ goal is to break the West’s financial dominance, including through a trading currency that will compete with the American dollar.
The cooperative organization was formed in 2009.