South African Foreign Ministry: 23 countries have submitted official requests to join BRICS

Cape Town (ST): South African Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Naledi Pandor revealed that 23 countries have submitted formal requests to join the BRICS group and that the requests will be discussed at the upcoming summit this month.

Pandor said in a press conference today, according to RIA Novosti: “The leaders of BRICS countries will discuss during the summit the issue of expanding the Organization, and South Africa, in its capacity as head of the BRICS group, will hold talks at the summit on the expansion model, its principles and criteria.”

The minister published a list of countries that have submitted official requests to join the organization, namely Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Honduras, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand, the Emirates and Ethiopia.

K.Q.