By Elisa Barwick

The BRICS has kicked off 2025 with another full member. On 6 January the Brazilian government announced that the most populous Southeast Asian nation and the region’s largest economy, Indonesia, had formally joined the BRICS drive to transform global relations. The nation’s membership was initially approved at the August 2023 BRICS leaders’ summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, but only confirmed by Indonesia in October 2024 after the new government of Probowo Subianto took power, the previous president Joko Widodo saying he would take time to consider the move rather than “rush into it”. As a founding nation of the Non-Aligned Movement (developing nations which have refused to align with or against any major power or bloc since the Cold War), some commentators speculated that Indonesia would not want to be seen as aligning with China and Russia in the current international climate. But after the election, the new Foreign Minister Sugiono declared that joining BRICS “does not mean that we are joining a certain camp, but we actively participate in all forums”. Joining the forum, he said, “embodies the country’s active and free foreign policy”, adding that it would assist its aims for energy security, poverty eradication and human capital development.

Brazil took over the presidency of BRICS from Russia on 1 January. The five founding members share a rotating presidency, although the Brazilian government has said that “with the inclusion of new members, the bloc is expected to revisit its rotational formula”. Last year the original five members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, were joined by Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia was also approved for membership but has not formally accepted the invitation. It has continued to work closely with BRICS, however, and in its 2025 communications Brazil counted it among BRICS full members.

A government statement announcing the unanimous decision to accept Indonesia, stated, “The Brazilian government welcomes Indonesia’s entry into the BRICS. With the largest population and economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia shares with other members a commitment to reforming global governance institutions and contributes positively to deepening South-South cooperation.”

Welcoming the announcement, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said, “BRICS membership is a strategic way to increase collaboration and partnership with other developing nations.”

Indonesia has made significant moves to ensure its sovereignty, including through development. With Chinese assistance it built the Jakarta-Bandung high speed railway line which opened in 2023. It has moved to process its own raw materials rather than simply export them. In 2022 it banned nickel metal exports, scheduling other metals to follow, to focus instead on local manufacturing. (“Indonesia aspires to become a modern industrial nation”, AAS, 27 April 2022.)

Other Southeast Asian nations Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand were among the countries invited to join BRICS as “partner states” at the October 2024 BRICS leaders’ summit in Kazan, Russia. The list also included Nigeria, Uganda, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Türkiye, Bolivia and Cuba. (“BRICS now 4.6 billion strong”, AAS, 30 Oct. 2024.) By the end of 2024 all of those nations except Vietnam, Nigeria, Algeria and Türkiye had confirmed this status with BRICS and were approved as (nine) new partner states on 1 January.

Speaking about Indonesia in his briefing on 7 January, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, “China warmly welcomes the new addition to the BRICS family”. The grouping, he said, “now accounts for nearly half of the global population, more than a third of the global economy and more than half of the world’s economic growth. BRICS’ representation, appeal and influence have been rising. BRICS has become a vital platform for promoting solidarity and cooperation of the Global South and a major force driving the reform of the global governance system.”

Regarding the strategic significance of Indonesia’s move, he added: “Indonesia, as a major developing country and important force in the Global South, highly recognises the BRICS spirit and has taken an active part in ‘BRICS Plus’ cooperation. Indonesia’s official entry into BRICS serves the common interests of BRICS countries and the Global South, and we believe that Indonesia will make an active contribution to the development of BRICS.”

A statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry asserted that Indonesia “shares BRICS values, advocates multilateral cooperation based on the principles of mutual respect, openness, pragmatism, solidarity and consensus”. It noted that “Indonesia’s accession to BRICS will help enhance the group’s authority and prestige still further and will also facilitate the consistent consolidation of the Global South and East for forging a more equitable and well-balanced multipolar world order.”

Through a dialogue of diverse nations, the expanding BRICS forum is building the foundation for new international relations, both on security and economic matters. With our closest northern neighbour now on board it’s time for Australia to engage.

2025 plans: ‘Approaching the G20’

An intimate observer of BRICS-plus expansion and founder of BRICS+ Analytics, Russian economist Yaroslav Lissovolik provided further insights into Brazil’s BRICS chairmanship in an article published by BRICS online portal infobrics.org. Lissovolik noted that Brazil may be prepared to push BRICS expansion in a number of ways, including: inviting MERCOSUR (an economic union in South America) nations to participate in summits; inviting other regional blocs of the Global South such as ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to participate; creating a “platform of cooperation” among such regional blocs and their “respective development institutions”; aligning BRICS with Brazil’s push as G20 chair to eradicate hunger and poverty by similarly creating a platform for cooperation among multilateral and regional development banks, and utilising the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA, a liquidity facility for member nations) as a more effective tool to that end; and the possibility of inviting “the participation of advanced economies (perhaps as part of a separate BRICS++ outreach exercise)”.

Lissovolik foreshadowed that this year would see a new “Partnership belt” introduced, comprising a “new circle of BRICS partners [that] will participate in most of the key meetings, including the annual summit”.

In terms of the BRICS push to revolutionise the global economic architecture, Lissovolik noted that the push for alternative payment systems (including a proposed BRICS central bank digital settlement platform or BRICS Bridge, see “BRICS threatens bankers’ financial ‘revolution’”, AAS, 4 Nov. 2024) and a new common currency will continue at the expert level, with the payment system taking precedence.

Outlining his nation’s plans for BRICS at the end of 2024, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira indicated that BRICS will capitalise on recent momentum. Vieira told newspaper Estado de Minas: “Starting 1 January, we will chair BRICS and hold major ministerial meetings. BRICS has achieved significant momentum and is practically approaching the G20”—the Group of 20 nations—in size and scope.

Ambassador Eduardo Saboia, Brazil’s BRICS sherpa (the nickname for officials who lay the groundwork for a “summit” between nations), told Agência Brasil, “If you want to build a better world, a sustainable world, BRICS has to be part of this construction. And it’s important to have an understanding among these countries, because this understanding helps achieve broader agreements” with other nations. Saboia pointed to the diversity of BRICS nations as its special strength: “These countries, with their distinct political systems and unique challenges, come together annually, fostering solutions that benefit their populations”, he emphasised, according to a statement released by the Brazilian government.

Published by Australian Alert Service, 15 January 2025