BRICS invites 13 new partners to join

The BRICS partner countries will officially assume this status on 1 January 2025, according to confirmation from the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Andrei Rudenko,. According to him the total number listed is thirteen.
Lets look first at  Asia in addition to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, Vietnam has also accepted the invitation, he confirmed.
This means that the Association of South East Asian countries or  ASEAN  will be represented a substantial proportion of the prospective partners.  To date, only Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has announced that he has been granted the aforementioned status. So the group is strengthening its position in the international arena

So Which other  countries are expected to become BRICS partners?
The new category, designated as BRICS partners, was introduced at the summit of the association in Kazan, which was held under the auspices of Russia's chairmanship. At the time of writing, none of the member countries have officially announced the full list of partners. However, some information is already known, for example, that the list includes 13 states. This was confirmed by the official representative of the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, who emphasised that this was a collective decision within BRICS.

Plus  on 15 November, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued an official statement. Alexander Pankin, Deputy Foreign Minister, announced that Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia had become BRICS partners.The  Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, responsible for the Asian region, confirmed that these countries will become official partners of the association as of 1 January 2025. Vietnam will also be joining the group. As Andrei Rudenko confirmed, Moscow extended an invitation to Hanoi to become a BRICS partner, which was received positively.

"All of these countries, representing nearly half of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have expressed their intention to join BRICS as a partner state. Vietnam is also included in this expansion, the deputy minister confirmed.
He also reported to  the media, Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Turkey, Uganda and Uzbekistan have also become partners.
So in addition to Egypt,Ethiopia and Sothe Africa partners in the continent will be Algeria, Nigeria and Uganda.
Central Asia gets SCO members Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan while Europe gets Belarus and Turkey.
Latin America gets Bolivia and the Carribean adds Cuba  

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It is notable that a significant proportion of the prospective partners are situated within the same region and represent some of the most dynamicly developing economies globally. This is particularly noteworthy given that at its inception in 2006, the then BRIC (comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China) declared itself an organisation representing the four largest non-Western economies. South Africa joined in 2011, transforming the association into the BRICS.
Indonesia is now the largest country with the largest economy in Southeast Asia, with annual growth of 5% in recent years. The Thai economy grew at a faster pace in the third quarter of 2024, reaching a two-year high of 3%. The Central Bank of Malaysia has issued an optimistic forecast, predicting a growth rate of 4 to 5% in 2024. Vietnam's GDP grew by 6.82% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year.
If the cooperation is successful, the four countries will set a positive example for the other six ASEAN member states, and they will also be ready to join the most ambitious global initiative today. However, for the cooperation to be successful in practice, it is essential to implement the projects that the new BRICS partners are counting on with haste and efficiency.
These include the creation of a single platform for interbank payments, free trade zones, new transport corridors and logistics routes, and the linking of the EAEU and ASEAN with investment initiatives. This is according to Kirill Babaev, Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Vice President of the National Coordination Center for International Business Cooperation,
The ASEAN group also includes Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, and the Philippines. Cambodia and Laos are the most likely to join nextas partners  , having indicated their interest in participating in one format or another. Myanmar has already indicated its intention to participate in BRICS as an observer country.
The Philippines is only just considering the group, but given the country's pro-American stance and the perception in the West that the association is either a Russian project or at least a Chinese one it is not likely to apply. It is also highly unlikely that Singapore will participate, given that the Russian government has identified the city-state as an unfriendly country.

As Kirill Kotkov, head of the Center for the Study of Far Eastern Countries in St. Petersburg, highlighted in an interview with Izvestia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam are pursuing a balanced foreign policy and therefore view BRICS as an opportunity for partnership.
It is notable that BRICS has grown at a rapid pace. Since 1 January 2024, the association has almost doubled in size. Furthermore, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE have also become members. As Russian President Vladimir Putin has noted, BRICS already encompasses a third of the globe's land area (33%) and almost half of the planet's population (45%). This is a notable effort to contribute to the development of a multipolar global landscape, which many participating countries are aiming to achieve.

It is worth noting that there were some unexpected outcomes in the planned expansion. For instance, Saudi Arabia has never officially joined BRICS. Its participation was the subject of speculation for an extended period, but this was subsequently clarified by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov. Following the Kazan summit, the diplomat noted that the country takes part in the association's activities but has the status of an invited country. Argentina, after the election of Javier Miley, who adopted a pro-American stance, declined to participate.

Nevertheless, interest in BRICS remains strong, as evidenced by the summit. Despite Western efforts to isolate Russia politically and economically due to the Ukraine crisis, President Vladimir Putin was able to bring together 35 countries in Kazan. A number of participating countries have already made statements regarding future partnership.
For instance, Belarus has been designated a BRICS partner country, according to an announcement by the country's president, Alexander Lukashenko. The Bolivian Foreign Ministry has indicated its willingness to accept the invitation to become a partner. Ms. Celinda Sosa, head of the department, confirmed that Cuba had made a similar decision. Mr. Putin announced that an official invitation had been extended to Kazakhstan. Turkey and Uganda have confirmed receipt of a corresponding offer. The Nigerian Foreign Ministry has announced that the country has already become a BRICS partner, according to a report in the local publication The PUNCH.
The inclusion of both new member countries and now partners will undoubtedly enhance the international standing and value of BRICS.

— Initially, the association was regarded as a kind of forum until 2022. It is now perceived as an alternative to numerous platforms and international institutions, particularly those with a Western focus. This includes the G20, with some even considering the UN, the IMF, and the World Bank. For many developing countries, BRICS is becoming a more systemic alternative for diversifying foreign economic and trade relations, reducing dependence on the dollar, and solving the problems of food and energy security.
— Alexander Korolev, PhD in political science, deputy director of the HSE Center for Comprehensive Economic Studies, as told to Izvestia.
Mr. Kirill Babaev also emphasized that, while there is growing interest in BRICS, the founding countries must understand that the speed and coherence of specific work on developing economic interaction will determine the future of the economic world order.