According to the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries have invited Indonesia to join the group.
Indeed, the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that her counterparts from the BRICS countries had adopted an approach to invite Indonesia to join the group. “From the beginning, the BRICS countries have been considering expanding their membership. All the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries have been in contact with Indonesia to invite it to join the BRICS,” she said.
Furthermore, she added that her country has not yet made a decision on whether BRICS membership would benefit Indonesia. “Internal studies are still ongoing to determine the political and economic advantages,” she explained.
However, Retno Marsudi stated that Indonesia has not yet submitted a “expression of interest” to join the BRICS. “In order to join the BRICS, the country must submit an expression of interest letter, known as an ‘expression of interest’ letter, to affirm its desire to join the BRICS and so on. So far, we have not submitted anything,” she explained.
Nevertheless, as Indonesian President Joko Widodo stated during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, Indonesia maintained good relations with all the BRICS member countries. Even though President Joko Widodo stated on August 30 that there needed to be a review, Said Abdullah, the chairman of the Indonesian Parliament’s Economic Affairs Commission, called on the government to expedite the process of joining the BRICS.
As a reminder, six new members were accepted by the group at the recent BRICS summit in South Africa: Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran.
