Saudi Arabia is still considering joining BRICS.
A Saudi official source has dismissed South Africa’s claim about Saudi Arabia joining the group of countries known as BRICS as premature and emphasized that the Riyadh government is still reviewing the invitation to join.
Naledi Pandor, the South African Foreign Minister, had considered Saudi Arabia’s joining BRICS as definite on February 1, but an official Saudi source told Reuters on Friday that his country has not yet responded to this invitation and is still studying it.
Faisal Mekdad, the Saudi Minister of Economy, had previously stated that his country is still examining this matter.
The BRICS group of emerging economies invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, the UAE, Ethiopia, and Argentina during a summit in Johannesburg in the middle of this summer to join the bloc from the beginning of 2024.
According to Reuters, the expansion of this group will increase its economic weight and can be a step towards achieving the lofty goals declared by its founding countries in terms of changing the global order and strengthening the Global South.
