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Benefits of joining BRICS could come at political cost for Indonesia
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A person walks past the Sandton Convention Centre, which will host the upcoming BRICS Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 19, 2023. (Reuters/James Oatway)
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ndonesia has expressed interest in joining the BRICS group of major emerging economies, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a move experts believe could have benefits, but repercussions too.
Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga told reporters on Friday that joining the group could result in new trade opportunities given the group’s diverse geographical locations and massive population.
“The interest is there, the potential is clear, and the opportunity is up for grabs,” said Jerry on the sidelines of the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Meeting in Semarang, Central Java.
He added that joining BRICS might open doors for Indonesia to “nontraditional markets” of South America and Africa, given that these regions were relatively “unexplored”.
Data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) show that in 2022, Indonesian exports to BRICS member states totaled US$93.16 billion, while imports were $84.27 billion. China was responsible for a big chunk of both – 70.9 percent of exports and 79 percent of imports.
Consistent with Jerry’s statements, the same data showed that 2022 trade between Indonesia and Brazil totaled only $5.26 billion, while exports and imports with South Africa were $3.2 billion.
“When it comes to trade, benefits are what matters. […] When it’s scalable, deliverable, measurable and can be translated into numbers, and if the numbers meet [expectations], then why not?” said Jerry.
