Indonesia had previously expressed interest in joining BRICS, and its bid got the green light from the bloc in 2023.
It formally applied for membership in 2024, following the formation of President Prabowo Subianto’s new administration.
“The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its gratitude to Russia, as the 2024 BRICS Chair, for its support and leadership in facilitating Indonesia’s entry into BRICS, as well as to Brazil, the 2025 BRICS Chair, for announcing Indonesia’s participation,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This membership results from Indonesia’s active engagement with BRICS over the past few years, including its attendance at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in 2023 under South Africa’s leadership and the 2024 Summit in Kazan under Russia’s chairmanship,” the statement continued.
The ministry said that Indonesia is committed to actively contributing to the BRICS agenda, including promoting economic resilience, technological cooperation, sustainable development, and addressing global challenges such as climate change, food security, and public health.
“BRICS is an important platform for Indonesia to strengthen South-South cooperation, ensuring the voices and aspirations of Global South countries are heard and represented in global decision-making processes,” the ministry said.
“We are fully dedicated to working together with all BRICS members, as well as with other parties, to realise the creation of a just, peaceful, and prosperous world.”
Teuku said that this was Prabowo’s “swift achievement” and proof that foreign policy is one of the important priorities in this administration.
“This is Prabowo’s swift achievement. Because he has done a deep dive on this issue when he was elected as president. Prabowo travelled a lot, was involved in international forums,” Teuku said.
BRICS, established in 2009, includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as its early members —countries with rapidly growing economies.
Over time, BRICS has attracted interest from other nations, leading to membership expansion. In 2024, new members included Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
Made up of non-Western countries, BRICS is often perceived to challenge the political and economic dominance of rich and powerful countries in North America and Western Europe.
Not including Indonesia, BRICS member countries have a population of around 3.5 billion or 45 per cent of the global population. Combined, the economies of the BRICS countries account for about 28 per cent of the global economy.
TRUMP’S THREAT TO BRICS
But observers say Indonesia should be wary of US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to BRICS.
In early December last year, Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on BRICS member countries if they proceeded with plans to create a new currency to rival the US dollar.
“We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or they will face 100 per cent tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy,” Trump warned on his social media platform Truth Social.
The proposal to create a BRICS currency was put forward by Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the Johannesburg meeting in 2023. However, the proposal has not yet gained full support from all BRICS members.
Professor of International Law from the University of Indonesia Hikmahanto Juwana said that Trump’s threat should be a concern for Prabowo.
“This is what we have to be cautious about because later on Jan 20 Trump will be inaugurated, and my concern is that Trump will consider Indonesia hostile to the US,” Hikmahanto told CNA.
“If so, then various privileges, facilities provided by the US so far to Indonesia will be withdrawn.”
