MOSCOW: Malaysia will be among countries that officially become BRICS partners from Jan 1, says Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov.
“On the eve of the summit in Kazan (held in October), we received 35 applications to join BRICS on one condition or another,” he said, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
“One of the most important results of the summit was the establishment of the category of BRICS partner countries and agreement on a list of 13 countries,” he said.
Ushakov said to date, Belarus, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Thailand, Malaysia, Uganda and Uzbekistan have confirmed their readiness to become BRICS partner states.
“We expect to receive responses in the near future from four other countries to which invitations have also been sent,” he told a briefing.
He said more than 20 countries have shown interest in the work of BRICS, adding that the doors of the association remain open for the entry of like-minded nations.In July, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim confirmed that Malaysia had submitted an application to Russia to join BRICS, which accounts for one-fifth of global trade.
He said Malaysia’s application to join BRICS was strongly supported by its members, including Russia, China and India.
The Prime Minister was also reported to have said that several Asean countries have shown interest in joining the grouping after Malaysia expressed its intention to be part of the economic bloc.
Russia currently chairs the bloc founded in 2009 with Brazil, India and China, with South Africa joining a year later, to be a cooperation platform for emerging economies.
The bloc has since expanded to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.
