Brazil Announces Indonesia Officially Joining BRICS

JAKARTA - The Brazilian government on Monday announced in a statement that Indonesia has officially joined as a full member of the BRICS economic group.

Brazil currently holds the BRICS presidency. Meanwhile, Indonesia itself has applied to become a member of the BRICS Plus Summit in Kazan, Russia in October last year.

Brazil said member states approved Indonesia's entry on a consensus as part of the push for expansion which was originally approved at the top meeting of the bloc in 2023 in Johannesburg.

"Indonesia shares support with other group members for the reform of global governance institutions, and contributes positively to the deepening of cooperation in the southern hemisphere," the Brazilian government said.

Last month, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Roy Soemirat said Indonesia received support from a number of founding countries to accelerate the membership process.

"Yes, it is true that several BRICS founders have stated explicitly that they will help accelerate the Indonesian membership process," said Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Roy Soemirat in Jakarta, Thursday, December 5.

Roy said it was clear what to do with the country that was submitting the application, a period of waiting for the verdict.

"Usually, the next summit decision will be taken. However, it is possible that there will be special efforts from BRICS countries to make formal decisions on requests for this application sooner without waiting for the next summit," Roy explained.

Roy further explained that Indonesia had actually submitted an application to become a full member at the 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia last October.

"Bola di tangan mereka, mau mempercepat, melambatkan. Yang kami tahu, saat ini secara informal banyak negara, baik founder BRICS maupun negara lain yang bergabung belakan belakangan menyatakan, mereka sangat positif terhadap aplikasi yang diajukan Indonesia," jelas Roy.

Previously, Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono said the process of Indonesia joining BRICS continued. He said Indonesia had the support of one of the founders of the forum, China.

The support, said Foreign Minister Sugiono, was obtained when President Prabowo Subianto made his first foreign work visit to China.

The Foreign Minister said that what BRICS was fighting for was in line with what Indonesia was fighting for.

The Foreign Minister assessed that BRICS is a medium that Indonesia will be able to use as the right vehicle in discussing and advancing the interests of developing countries.

President Prabowo himself previously emphasized that Indonesia's decision to enter the global economic bloc such as BRICS and OECD was taken for the benefit of the nation.

It is known that BRICS was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. On January 1, 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates became full members.