Ahmad 
Saudi Arabia has officially announced the start of its full membership in the BRICS group, after being invited to join during the group’s summit held last August in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Saudi channel “Al-Ekhbariya” confirmed on Tuesday that “the Kingdom’s membership in the BRICS group, which includes Russia, China and other countries, officially began today.”
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the occasion of the start of Russia’s chairmanship of the BRICS that the accession of new countries to the group convincingly shows the growing power of the bloc and its role in world affairs.
Putin explained that the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and several other countries have joined as new members with their full membership, noting that this reflects the strength of the group and its growing role in international affairs.
“BRICS attracts more and more allies and like-minded countries,” Putin said, adding: “With a focus on positive and creative cooperation with all interested countries, Russia’s BRICS chairmanship in 2024 will work under the theme of promoting multilateralism for just global development and security.”
The BRICS group, which Russia assumed its presidency this year, is witnessing exceptional developments, the most important of which was the fact that 23 countries have already announced their desire to join the economic alliance, including Argentina, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Following the group’s last summit in Johannesburg from August 22 to 24, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia have been officially invited to join BRICS, and full membership of the new countries is expected to start from January 1, 2024.
The BRICS group includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and sees 23 other countries, including Saudi Arabia, join the prominent economic alliance that represents about 30% of the global economy.