ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has been exploring plans to join BRICS, a bloc of the world’s major emerging economies and a cabinet subcommittee report is expected by end-June, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has said.
Sri Lanka’s move comes as it is now looking for more funding with the conclusion of formal bilateral debt restructuring deal.
Sabry after attending the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Conference in Russia early this month, Sri Lanka has appointed a cabinet subcommittee comprising officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Treasury, Ministry of Finance, and Central Bank to explore the possibility of Sri Lanka joining the BRICS organization.
“I see a lot of momentum being built towards BRICS,” the Foreign Minister told media earlier this month.
“As far as we are concerned we are closely monitoring it. We are expecting that report (from the cabinet subcommittee) to be available for us towards the end of this month. “
“Based on that I will go back to the cabinet and depending on what cabinet decided we will decide whether to immediately apply to join or to wait and further observe it.”
Government sources said they are still waiting for the report from the cabinet subcommittee.
BRICS, an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is the world’s major emerging economies, and the group has now expanded to 15 countries with more nations want to join the bloc.
Sri Lankan move also comes after two Southeast Asian nations, Malaysia and Thailand, have recently revealed plans to join the BRICS, a bloc with middle power countries seeking to maneuver amid growing geopolitical uncertainties, including the U.S.-China tensions.
BRICS was launched in 2009 as BRIC and later renamed BRICS in 2010 when South Africa joined the group. It was formed to foster economic, political and cultural cooperation among its members.
Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also joined the BRICS in the recent years which is considered as a developing world’s foremost multilateral organisation.
Already BRICS represents over 42% of total global GDP and about 27% of global territory. The expansion of the bloc is expected to increase the economic power for the grouping.
The bloc is seen as an alternative to groups of Western nations which are dominating the global economy. (Colombo/June 26/2024)