JakartaPost-Jan 9, 2025
The administration of President Prabowo Subianto says joining BRICS will bring a number of benefits, but others are not so certain, noting that Jakarta has already inked a number of pacts with the bloc’s member states. Indonesia recently became a full member of the BRICS economic and geopolitical grouping. The name is an acronym for the bloc’s first five member states: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Luhut Pandjaitan, who chairs the National Economic Council (DEN), a presidential advisory body, said in a press conference on Thursday that the chief benefit of membership would be “bigger markets”. He also said Indonesia was “too big of a country to take sides” and that joining BRICS should not be seen as being in geopolitical opposition to Western countries. “We have to be free, we have to be independent. It’s okay to be a little bit naughty to demonstrate that we have a say,” said Luhut. On Wednesday, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said that through its membership, Indonesia would enjoy more access to trade and investment from the bloc’s member states. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said on the same day that it expected more opportunities to export the country’s mining products. Prior to joining the bloc, Indonesia had inked bilateral and multilateral agreements with each BRICS member state. In November 2020, for instance, Jakarta joined the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which includes China, as well as some other regional pacts that also involve Beijing. China is BRICS’ heaviest hitter in terms of trade. It accounted for some 72 percent of the total exports of the bloc’s five original members in 2023, according to the International Trade Center. India, the bloc’s second-biggest trade presence, has also had a free trade agreement with Indonesia since 2010. Read more at:
