Indonesia is willing to join the BRICS group, speaker of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matvienko stated after talking to President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the G20 parliamentary summit in Jakarta.
"Indonesia is showing great interest in signing an agreement on a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union; this issue has already advanced very well. In principle, Indonesia wants to join the BRICS format," Matvienko said in response to a question about her negotiations with the Indonesian president.
She also noted that Moscow and Jakarta have great potential to boost their cooperation.
BRICS is an informal association of the major developing economies that was formed in 2006 to enhance cooperation between the nations and elaborate common approaches to global economic challenges. Members of the bloc, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, account for around 40 percent of the global population and almost a quarter of the global GDP.
Over the past year, Argentina and Iran have applied for BRICS membership, while Algeria expressed an interest in joining the format. According to BRICS International Forum President Purnima Anand, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia may also join the bloc "very soon."