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Indonesia receives invitation to join BRICS, exploring possible benefits — minister

Jakarta has good relations with all member states of the integration, Retno Marsudi noted

TOKYO, August 31. /TASS/. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has stated that representatives of BRICS member states invited the country to enter the integration, the Antara agency reported.

"Since the very beginning BRICS had an idea to increase the number of members, which is why all BRICS foreign ministers turned to Indonesia with a proposal to join BRICS," the minister was quoted as saying. However, research is currently being conducted to explore the advantages of joining the integration, she noted. "To join BRICS the country is to present a letter expressing an interest. It looks as a letter saying that I am interested in joining BRICS and so on. And we, Indonesia, have not presented it yet," the minister stressed.

That said, Jakarta has good relations with all member states of the integration, she added.

The 15th BRICS summit was held in Johannesburg in South Africa under South Africa’s chairmanship on August 22-24 and was a major meeting of the heads of state and governments of the global south in recent years. Sources told the Indian Business Standard newspaper that Indonesia could have been accepted. However, later it was reported that the participants in the summit decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of BRICS from 1 January 2024. They also tasked their foreign ministers to further develop the BRICS partner country model, compile a list of prospective partner countries and report by the next summit that will be held in the Russian city of Kazan.

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