“One thing has to be explained clear: The leaders in Johannesburg agreed that in spite of the expansion which took place on January 1, the new larger group will keep its name, BRICS. Period. Not ‘BRICS-plus’, but BRICS. It’s a trademark. It’s a well-known brand,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.
Ryabkov was referring to the 2023 BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, where new members were formally invited to join the group.
BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the initial members of the bloc. Five more countries – Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates – joined the group at the start of this year as part of a major expansion.
The door has been left open for further additions, according to RT.
The expanded BRICS accounts for about 30% of the global economy, and has a combined population of nearly 3.5 billion, or 45% of the world’s inhabitants.
Numerous other nations have expressed interest in becoming BRICS members, and some have already formally submitted applications, including Venezuela, Thailand, Senegal, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Bahrain, and Pakistan.