BRICS Adds Nine New Partner Members, as Brazil Takes Over Chairmanship

Jan. 4—At last year’s BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, thirteen new partner countries were invited to join BRICS. Of these, nine countries have accepted the invitation and, as of Jan. 1, 2025 have now officially become partner members. These countries are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan. The other four countries invited to join which have not as yet responded are Algeria, Nigeria, Türkiye and Vietnam.

Brazil has now taken over as head of the BRICS for 2025, what Planalto (Brazil’s Office of the Presidency) calls “the prominent forum for political and economic cooperation among nations of the Global South,” according to an announcement on its website.

Brazil’s agenda for this year is “Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance.” Its five priorities are “1. Facilitating Trade and Investment: Promoting economic integration through the development of efficient payment systems. 2. Regulating Artificial Intelligence: Encouraging inclusive and responsible AI governance for development purposes. 3. Addressing Climate Change: Enhancing financing mechanisms to support global efforts, in coordination with the COP30 climate summit. 4. Public Health Collaboration: Strengthening cooperation projects among member countries, focusing on improving public health systems. 5. Institutional Development: Bolstering the internal frameworks of BRICS to ensure effective governance and decision-making.”

Brazil’s BRICS sherpa Ambassador Eduardo Saboia told Agência Brasil that “if you want to build a better world, a sustainable world, BRICS has to be part of this construction. And it’s important to have an understanding among these countries, because this understanding helps achieve broader agreements” with other nations. He called the BRICS a stabilizing force in the world, “because if you have these countries—which are different and have different political systems, each with their own challenges, understanding each other—meeting every year, that’s good for everyone, because it’s where solutions for the people come from.”

In addition to the challenges faced from the global crisis in which these discussions will take place, Brazil faces the task of overseeing how to integrate the nine new partner countries. The government foresees holding over 100 meetings between February and the annual BRICS Summit, which will probably take place in July in Rio de Janeiro.

Some observers noted that absent from this list were plans, put forward last year but now apparently on the back burner, for massive infusions of capital to boost the lending capapbilties of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) and discussion of priority development projects.