Revealing the new members of BRICS
Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates will become new members of BRICS, Brazilian news portal UOL reported, citing a draft document summarizing the summit.
As the portal notes, the new member states are distributed geographically.
"BRICS will announce the expansion of its membership by five more countries... The final list includes: Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Iran, UAE, Egypt," - the portal said.
BRICS is a group of major emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Because they felt they were not being properly represented in their new positions in international bodies, they created a new forum to express their interests and plan common activities within the group.
According to the source, to maintain geographical balance, another African country may be added to the list.
Earlier, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said BRICS had agreed on expansion and adopted a document outlining the bloc's principles.
The BRICS summit is being held in Johannesburg on August 22-24. The summit will be attended by the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa. Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. President Vladimir Putin has announced that he will attend the summit via video conference.
Leaders of 23 countries officially expressed their desire to join BRICS
DNUM_AIZAIZCACD 09:00
