Bloc has also created a common currency working group
The BRICS group approved this Thursday (24) the entry of Saudi Arabia, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran.
According to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from 1 January 2024 these six countries will join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in a bloc responsible for 36% of global gross domestic product (GDP).
“Brazil is pleased to welcome Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Iran to the BRICS. Now the GDP of the BRICS rises to 36% of world GDP for the purchases and 46% of the world’s population,” the president said in a press statement in Johannesburg.
According to Lula, the group “will remain open to new candidates” and has approved “criteria and methods for future membership”.
In addition to the new members, more than 15 countries have already officially applied to join the BRICS, including Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Nigeria, Palestine, Thailand and Venezuela.
“This is a new chapter in the collaboration between emerging and developing countries,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping in Johannesburg, a strong supporter of expanding the bloc to oppose the global North.
“This expansion is historic”, Xi reiterated, adding that the new members will reinvigorate “the force for peace and development in the world”.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, a host of the summit, also stressed that the group will have “other phases” of expansion. “We share the vision of the BRICS as champions of the needs and concerns of the peoples of the southern hemisphere”, he said.
Common currency – The leaders of the bloc also approved the creation of a working group to study the adoption of a new reference currency for commercial transactions between member countries, in order to reduce the dominance of the dollar.
“This measure could increase our payment options and reduce our vulnerabilities,” Lula said on Thursday. A report is expected to be presented to leaders at next year’s summit. .
Source: Terra
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