Anil Sooklal, BRICS' ambassador from South Africa, revealed on Wednesday that twenty-two nations have formally applied to join the BRICS organization, and another twenty-two have informally expressed interest in joining the bloc.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran have formally asked to become BRICS members, Sooklal further said, noting that others have also expressed an interest in joining BRICS, including Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain and Indonesia.

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BRICS countries are de-dollarizing trade, as China and Brazil struck a deal to ditch the US dollar in their bilateral transactions, which is expected to reduce investment costs and develop economic ties between the two countries.

Put forward by Brazil, the proposal is due to be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the board of directors set to take place at the beginning of August in South Africa. 

It was reported earlier that South Africa would provide foreign officials attending the BRICS summit hosted by the country in August with diplomatic immunity. 

Moreover, in the last meeting of the Foreign Ministers, members said the bloc was open to new countries in light of their aspirations for a greater say in international affairs.

On June 22, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that the leaders of states that adopt a hostile stance towards Russia should not be included at the BRICS summit this August. 

"It is up to the host party to determine the circle of invitees, this is an established practice. But it is no less important that this should be preceded by consultations of all BRICS participants. It is clear that the leaders of a state, who are pursuing such a hostile and unacceptable for us policy ... such a leader is inappropriate as a guest to BRICS," Ryabkov told reporters.  

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