3 Southeast Asian states take up BRICS 'partners' status
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The partners status intends to prepare countries for membership status in the BRICS alliance.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a press conference at BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 24, 2024. (AP)
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are officially partner countries of the BRICS alliance, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksander Pankin announced.
"An impressive set of agreements on trade, investment, artificial intelligence, energy, and climate as well as logistics was concluded. Our APEC colleagues – Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand – have become BRICS partner countries," the diplomat stated.
The partner status was introduced at the latest BRICS summit in Kazan on October 24. During the summit, member states established this new temporary status to provide aspiring nations with certain privileges within the alliance as they prepare for full membership.
The key difference between a partner and member status is that members are awarded voting rights within the alliance's decision-making process. Meanwhile, partners can benefit from collaboration with other BRICS-affiliated states on trade, investments, finances, and special projects.
10 other countries were invited to take up partner statuses in Kazan, including Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Among these countries, Belarus became a partner of BRICS earlier, as announced by President of the Republic Aleksandr Lukashenko.
