Malaysia has applied to join the BRICS group of nations and revealed its plan to boost ties with Russia.
The country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made the remarks during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who is on a two-day visit to Malaysia.
The Malaysian prime minister said the potential membership “underscores our commitment to fostering robust international collaboration.”
“Malaysia has sent a letter of application to join the (BRICS) organisation to Russia as the BRICS chairman, besides expressing openness to participate as a member country or strategic partner.
“We also explored avenues to enhance bilateral cooperation, with a particular focus on strengthening ties in key areas such as investment and trade, science and technology, agriculture, defense and military, education, and tourism and culture,” Anwar said.
On June 18, Anwar confirmed Malaysia’s intention to join BRICS to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
For his part, Lavrov said Russia welcomes Malaysia’s interest in the group and will help to push for its membership.
The BRICS emerging-markets group, founded in 2006, was recently made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In January, it expanded to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
The group now has a combined population of about 3.5 billion, or 45% of the world’s inhabitants. Together its economies are worth more than $28.5tn – about 28% of the global economy.
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