Algeria today submitted a formal application to join the BRICS, the bloc of emerging economies made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
In statements to state radio, the representative of the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of international associations, Leyla Zarruki, assured that her country meets all the necessary criteria to request membership of the BRICS, although she did not provide more details to the regard.
Last July, the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, announced his intention to form part of this economic group and defended that its integration “will make Algeria, a pioneer of the principle of non-alignment, safe from friction between the two poles.”
“Belonging to the BRICS group depends on the economic conditions that Algeria meets to a large extent,” Tebboune said then, explaining that to achieve this goal, his country is working to develop the domestic product.
Algeria, which participated in June telematically in the last BRICS summit as an invited member, argued its request due to the need to open up commercially to other states in search of “parity and equality”.
At the end of September, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in New York with his Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session and declared that he supported Algeria “in its role as rotating president of the Arab League and the smooth running of the Arab Summit and welcomes your joining the BRICS family”.