Saudi Arabia says it will study whether to join BRICS after getting "the details"
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said today that Saudi Arabia will consider whether to join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group of emerging economies once it gets "the details" on "the nature of membership", after the bloc admitted six more countries on Thursday.
"We are awaiting details from the group on the invitation, the nature of the membership and its elements. Based on that and the internal measures, we will take the appropriate decision," Bin Farhan was quoted as saying by private Saudi television Al Arabiya.
The head of Saudi diplomacy, however, expressed his "appreciation" for Saudi Arabia's admission to the group, which he said was due to the Arab kingdom's "great political and economic position" and "its global weight".
He also said his country is making great diplomatic efforts to "build strong economic partnerships" to "support Saudi Arabia's development and economic and development cooperation around the world", at a time when OPEC's largest producer is accelerating its projects to end its heavy dependence on oil revenues.
"BRICS is an important and useful source to boost economic cooperation, especially between developing countries and southern countries, which need this kind of cooperation in light of the polarisations taking place now," said Bin Farhan, whose country has good relations with China and Russia, but also with the United States.
On the kingdom's role in the bloc, the Saudi said that his country's participation "increases competitiveness" due to "the economic size of the kingdom", as well as its geographical position and the resources it has at its disposal, including 17% of the world's proven oil reserves.
In this regard, he indicated that in October the main Arab economic powers and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold a summit, while before the end of the year a meeting will be held to forge economic alliances between Arab and African countries.
