Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur are the first two Southeast Asian governments to have expressed interest in joining the group
Di Silvia Zaccaria
The acronym BRICS refers to the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In January 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the BRICS. The five original member countries alone make up about 26 percent of the earth's land area, 30 percent of the global economy and 43 percent of the global population, a figure that continues to grow. Just as the BRICS have among their purposes the goal of bringing together the economies of the Global South, ASEAN was also established as an organization created for the purpose of contributing to the economic, social and cultural development of the countries of Southeast Asia, ensuring their stability, fostering their economic promotion, reducing poverty, and encouraging the exchange and support of countries with profoundly different economic and development levels. By virtue of the increasing economic and political importance the BRICS are gaining, many ASEAN members have expressed more or less concrete interest in their possible entry into the grouping, as early as the 2023 summit in Johannesburg. On May 28, Thailand approved a letter officially manifesting its intention to join BRICS. Ready to follow is Malaysia, whose Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has expressed strong interest in possible entry. Indonesia, which participated as a guest at the 2023 BRICS Summit, through Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, also said it is in the process of evaluating the possible benefits of joining the group. Finally, Vietnam also asserted that the country is seriously considering joining BRICS. In particular, it was pointed out that countries such as Thailand and Malaysia are aiming for BRICS entry for economic and social growth intentions of national interest. “BRICS membership would benefit Thailand in many ways, for example, by increasing Thailand's role in the international arena and enhancing its prospects of being one of the international economic policymakers.”, said Bangkok’s government.
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