沙地阿拉伯、伊朗、阿聯酋、埃及、衣索比亞加入金磚國家行列

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

BRICS to Grow as Saudi, Iran, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia Join Ranks

Ana Monteiro

Fri, December 29, 2023 at 3:17 a.m. PST

(Bloomberg) -- Membership of the BRICS group of emerging-market nations is set to double, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Egypt to join its ranks on Jan. 1, South Africa’s envoy to the bloc said.

Current members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in August invited six other nations to become part of their group, pairing some of the planet’s largest energy producers with some of the biggest consumers among developing countries. Only Argentina declined the invitation after President Javier Milei, who took office this month, reversed his predecessor’s membership bid.

The five invitees sent senior-level representatives to a BRICS sherpa meeting in Durban, South Africa, earlier this month and they fully participated in the gathering, “a clear indication that they have accepted the invitation” to join, Anil Sooklal, Pretoria’s ambassador to the bloc, said in an interview Friday.

The new members will also send officials to a sherpa meeting in Moscow on Jan. 30, he said.

“BRIC” was coined in 2001 by economist Jim O’Neill, then at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., to draw attention to strong economic growth rates in Brazil, Russia, India and China. The term was intended as an optimistic scenario for investors amid market pessimism following the terrorist attacks in the US on Sept. 11 that year. The group held its first leaders’ summit in 2009 and invited South Africa to join a year later, adding another continent and the letter “S.”

About 30 countries want to establish ties with the bloc, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov was cited by news agency Tass as saying this week.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, will seek to become a member of BRICS within the next two years, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar said in November.

Except for India, the BRICS have underperformed their emerging-market peers over the last five years, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. US-led sanctions have put Russia off limits for many foreign investors, and some sectors in China — especially technology companies — have also been sanctioned or face potential investment bans.

Translation

（彭博）—南非駐金磚國集團特使表示，新興市場國家的金磚國家集團的成員數量將增加一倍，沙地阿拉伯、伊朗、阿拉伯聯合酋长國、衣索比亞和埃及將於1 月1 日加入金磚國家集團的行列。

目前的成員國巴西、俄羅斯、印度、中國和南非在八月邀請了其他六個國家加入該集團，將地球上一些最大的能源生產國與發展中國家中一些最大的能源消費國配對。 只有阿根廷拒絕了邀請, 在本月上任的阿根廷總統 Javier Milei 推翻了前任的入盟申請。

比勒陀利亞駐金磚國集團大使 Anil Sooklal 週五在接受採訪時表示，五位受邀者派出高級代表參加了本月早些時候在南非德班舉行的金磚國家協調人會議，他們充分參加了這次聚會，「這明確表明他們已經接受了邀請」。

他說，新成員還將派官員參加 1 月 30 日在莫斯科舉行的協調人會議。

「BRIC」是由時任高盛集團公司經濟學家 Jim O’Neill 於 2001 年創造的，旨在引起人們對巴西、俄羅斯、印度和中國強勁經濟成長率的關注。 該詞語的本意是在當年 9 月 11 日美國恐怖攻擊後市場悲觀的情況下為投資者提供樂觀的情景。 該組織於2009年舉行了首次領導人峰會，一年後邀請南非加入，增加了另一個大洲和字母 “S” 。

塔斯社本週引述俄羅斯外交部長拉夫羅夫的話說，大約有 30 個國家希望與該集團建立關係。

尼日利亞外交部長 Yusuf Tuggar 在 11 月表示，非洲人口最多的國家尼日利亞將尋求在未來兩年內成為金磚國家成員。

據彭博資訊稱，除印度外，金磚國家在過去五年中的表現均落後於新興市場國家同儕。 美國主導的製裁使許多外國投資者無法進入俄羅斯，而中國的一些產業 - 尤其是科技公司 - 也受到製裁或面臨潛在的投資禁令。

       So, we see the gradual growth in membership in BRICS. I am wondering if this organization could eventually be used as a political tool to challenge the economic influence of the US and its alliance.