4 ASEAN members become BRICS partners

ASEAN member countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have been invited to attend the BRICS Summit in the Russian Federation.

BRICS leaders have agreed on a list of countries to be invited to join as partner countries. Southeast Asian countries Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam were invited to attend the three-day BRICS Summit hosted by Russia on October 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that some countries participating in the BRICS+ meetings have made proposals to join the bloc as full members.

Along with the four ASEAN member states, the other countries are Algeria, Nigeria and Uganda in Africa; Belarus and Türkiye in Europe; Cuba and Bolivia in the Americas; and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. The bloc's leaders also announced in a joint communique on October 23 that they had endorsed a new category, called "partner countries," and welcomed "significant interest from countries in the Global South." The Global South is widely used to refer to various countries that are often less economically developed and located mainly in the southern hemisphere in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Chinese President Xi Jinping described the bloc's decision to invite other countries as "another major step forward in the development of BRICS." The expansion of BRICS is a milestone in the history of the bloc and a landmark event in the development of the international situation.

Illustrative photo of leaders attending the BRICS 2024 Summit in Russia

The three-day BRICS summit began on October 22 and is attended by leaders from some of the world's largest economies. The idea for the alliance was proposed by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2006, with the first summit taking place in Russia in 2009. The alliance was expanded in 2010 to include South Africa. The bloc is named after its members. At last year's summit in Johannesburg, BRICS leaders invited Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join, in what some leaders described as a historic move - although Argentina withdrew after its new president took office.

This year, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa and Indonesia's new Foreign Minister Sugiono represented the countries at the BRICS summit in Russia. Malaysia confirmed in July that it had applied to join BRICS and was ready to join as a member state or strategic partner. Thailand submitted its formal request in June. Southeast Asia's second-largest economy is also eyeing membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). At the BRICS summit on October 24, Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith said the Southeast Asian nation was formally expressing its desire to join the bloc.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/4-thanh-vien-asean-tro-thanh-doi-tac-cua-brics-355192.html