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Malaysia set to join BRICS — prime minister

Anwar Ibrahim noted that he held fruitful talks on BRICS expansion with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

BEIJING, June 17. /TASS/. Malaysia will soon start the formal process of joining BRICS, the country's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.

"We have made a decision [on this issue]. We will start going through the official procedures soon. <...>. We are now waiting for a definitive answer, the response from the South African government," he said in an interview with China's Guancha website. Ibrahim added that he held fruitful talks on BRICS expansion with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The BRICS group has seen two waves of expansion since its emergence in 2006. In 2011, South Africa joined the original members, which included Brazil, Russia, India and China. In August 2023, six new members, including Argentina, were invited to join the association. Buenos Aires changed its mind in late December last year. Five new members, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia, officially joined the group on January 1, 2024. Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov said on June 6 that about 30 countries have voiced their desire to join BRICS.

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