Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto visited both America and China after he took office in October last year, but Jakarta will now be in the same club as Beijing, which warmly welcomed the new member.
Indonesia will formally join BRICS as a full member, Brazil’s government said on Monday (January 6), the Jakarta Post reported quoting news agencies.
Brazil made the announcement as the current president of BRICS, a group of major emerging economies, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Indonesia will be the tenth full group member, expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday (Jan 7) that it welcomed being part of the group and that “BRICS membership is a strategic way to increase collaboration and partnership with other developing nations”, reported Reuters.
Why join now?
Indonesia’s candidacy was endorsed by BRICS leaders in August 2023, according to the foreign ministry of Brazil. However, the world’s fourth-most populous nation opted to formally join the bloc only after the formation of its newly elected government last year.
Indonesia’s membership was presented as a significant gain for the group.
“With the largest population and economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia shares with other members a commitment to reforming global governance institutions and contributes positively to deepening South-South cooperation,” the Brazilian statement said.
“China welcomes and congratulates Indonesia on becoming a full member of BRICS,” reported the China Daily.
BRICS aims
BRICS was formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2009, and South Africa was added in 2010.
The organisation was created as a counterweight to the Group of Seven developed nations. Other nations now want to join the group. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied for membership. Saudi Arabia has been invited to join but has not yet done so.
Before Indonesia’s entry, BRICS accounted for nearly 45 per cent of the world’s population and 35 per cent of the global gross domestic product, measured using purchasing power parity.
BRICS wants to change the established order, which had long been dominated by the West.
Trump ire
As the BRICS president, Brazil wants to boost cooperation between the emerging economies of the “Global South” and reform multilateral institutions.
The government of left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also seeks to “develop means of payment” to facilitate trade between member countries.
During the last BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in November 2024, member nations discussed boosting non-dollar transactions and strengthening local currencies.
This angered US President-elect Donald Trump, who threatened the group’s members with “100 per cent tariffs” if they undercut the US dollar.
Although BRICS has its differences with the West and includes avowed enemies of the West or sworn rivals such as China, Russia and Iran, a BRICS membership is not an inevitable spoiler of relations with Washington.
India, a BRICS founder member, is a US ally as part of the Quad, keeping an eye on China. The United Arab Emirates has close ties with both Washington and Beijing.
It’s too early to tell how Indonesia’s BRICS membership will affect its relations with Washington. Clearly, though, Jakarta thought it had more to gain than lose by joining BRICS.
