Malaysia Expresses Interest To Join BRICS, What Is It?
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia is interested in joining BRICS and is awaiting a response.
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Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday (18 June) that Malaysia has indicated its interest to join the intergovernmental organisation BRICS.
Anwar added that the formal procedure will begin soon and he has been discussing the matter with Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He’s also awaiting a response from the South African government.
What is BRICS? Is Malaysia making its own Lego bricks?
The acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) was coined in 2001 by a Western analyst Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs who studied the economic potential of developing countries. He concluded that these four countries would determine the direction of the world economy and politics in the 21st century.
BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. BRIC was initially formed in 2006 with four countries before South Africa joined its ranks in 2010, officially changing the name to BRICS.
Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates became part of the group in January 2024. If all goes well, Malaysia will soon join these countries.
BRICS was set up to bring together the world’s most important developing countries to challenge the political and economic power of wealthier nations of North America and Western Europe.
Members meet at an annual summit to set priorities on a consensus, that includes plans to work together to better their economies and address political and security cooperation. Members also take turns to serve as president for a year.
This year, it’s Russia’s turn for the presidency and assumed the chairmanship of BRICS on 1 January 2024 with the promise to uphold the motto: Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security. Russia previously held the presidency in 2020.
On 5 March 2024, the aide to Russian President, Yuri Ushakov, said the 2024 BRICS Summit would be held in Kazan, Russia from 22 to 24 October 2024. It will be the first BRICS summit following the addition of new members.
Ushakov said Russia will focus on “promoting political and security, economic and financial, as well as cultural and humanitarian connections” among BRICS countries.
Does BRICS rival the G7?
BRICS has been considered a geopolitical rival to the G7 bloc comprised of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The expanded group brings a combined population of about 3.5 billion (45% of the world’s inhabitants) and the total members’ economies are worth more than USD$28.5tn (RM 131.955 trillion), about 28% of the global economy.
With Iran, Saudi Arabia, and UAE in its ranks, BRICS countries produce about 44% of the world’s crude oil.
Since many of the BRICS countries are also in the G20 group, Dr Irene Mia from the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank believes both groups may work in tandem in the future.
She believes they might push for more money for developing nations to tackle climate change.
A list of BRICS’ accomplishments
Since forming BRICS together, members have seen improvements in their economic standings.
In 2010, China became the second-biggest economy in the world. India stood as the 10th largest economy in gross domestic product (GDP) and is the fourth largest economy in terms of GDP at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
In 2011, Brazil became the world’s sixth-largest economy. Russia became the ninth largest economy while South Africa ranked 26th.
BRICS countries have also increased their share of global GDP threefold in the past years.
In 2015, BRICS also formed the New Development Bank, a global financial institution, to cooperate with the Western-dominated International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The New Development Bank was formerly known as the BRICS Development Bank. The New Development Bank promises to support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation, and other financial instruments.
The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China and its first regional office is in Johannesburg, South Africa. The second regional office opened in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2019, with subsequent ones in GIFT City in Gujarat, India, and Moscow, Russia.
BRICS holds various events too
To further deepen ties between countries, BRICS also holds various annual events focused on culture, youth exchanges, sports, and tourism.
Some of the planned events this year include BRICS cultural and film festivals, Academic and Civic forums, the Youth Forum and the Youth Camp, as well as the Forum of Young Diplomats.
The BRICS Plus International Municipal Forum and the traditional Forum of Sister Cities and Municipalities will also be held.
The BRICS Games will be held in June with athletes from over 60 countries invited to join. The Games will feature 29 sports in the programme.
In 2023, South Africa hosted the annual Games in Durban.
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