Iran’s trade with BRICS member states, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, reached 43.28 million tons worth $34.98 billion during the first 11 months of last Iranian year (March 21, 2022-Feb. 19), data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, which excludes crude oil exports, show.
China was Iran’s main trade partner among BRICS members with 32.21 million tons worth $27.76 billion. India came next with 6.64 million tons worth $4.51 billion. It was followed by Russia with 3.36 million tons worth $1.97 billion, Brazil with 459,959 tons worth $408.95 million and South Africa with 605,097 tons worth $317.57 million.
Iran’s exports stood at 35.11 million tons worth $16.52 billion.
China was the top export destination with 28.19 million tons worth $13.56 billion. It was followed by India with 4.9 million tons worth $1.91 billion, Russia with 1.27 million tons worth $672,837 million, South Africa with 594,416 tons worth $303.92 million and Brazil with 138,976 tons worth $71.72 million.
Imports stood at 8.17 million tons worth $18.45 billion.
China also topped the list of exporters to Iran among BRICS member states with 4.01 million tons worth $14.2 billion. India with 1.73 million tons worth $2.59 billion, Russia with 2.08 million tons worth $1.3 billion, Brazil with 320,983 tons worth $337.23 million and South Africa with 10,680 tons worth $13.64 million came next.
The BRICS group of nations plans to decide this year whether to admit new members and what criteria they would have to meet, with Iran and Saudi Arabia among those who have formally asked to join, according to South Africa’s ambassador to the bloc.
Enlarging the group would benefit Beijing, as the world’s second-biggest economy tries to build diplomatic clout to counter the dominance of developed nations in the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other institutions, BNN Bloomberg reported.
China initiated the conversation about expansion when it headed BRICS last year, triggering concern among other members that their influence will be diluted, especially if Beijing’s close allies are admitted. China’s gross domestic product is more than twice the size of all four BRICS members combined.
“The proposal to expand BRICS will be one of the economic bloc’s main focuses this year,” said Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador at large for Asia and BRICS.
South Africa is the group’s current chair.
“There are over a dozen countries that have knocked on the door,” Sooklal said in an interview in Johannesburg. “We are quite advanced at looking at a further group of new members.”
Vote Imbalance
The potential repositioning of BRICS comes, as developed nations in Europe and North America seek to bolster alliances to push back against the influence of an increasingly dominant China by forming new blocs and signing trade and security pacts.
The so-called Quad, an alliance formed by the US, Japan, India and Australia, has gained in prominence since being resurrected in 2017 after standing dormant for almost a decade. And in 2021, Australia, the UK and the US entered into a security alliance known as AUKUS.
We are living in “the world between orders. We don’t know what the new order is going to be,” Sooklal said. “We believe we need to play a role in ensuring that we have a more equitable, inclusive, transparent, global architecture.”
While BRICS accounts for 42% of the world’s population, its members have less than 15% of the voting rights in the World Bank and the IMF, according to the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies.
Originally known as BRIC, after an acronym coined in 2001 by then-Goldman Sachs Group Chief Economist Jim O’Neill, the bloc was formed in 2009 and South Africa was admitted the following year. It has since tried to forge closer trade relations between members through agreements involving their development banks, currency-swap accords and an increase in intra-BRICS trade in local currencies to reduce reliance on the dollar.
IMF Counterweight
Its five members founded the New Development Bank, intended as a counterweight to the IMF and World Bank, in 2014, and Bangladesh and the UAE joined the institution in 2021. Egypt and Uruguay are expected to follow suit soon, according to the NDB’s website.
With BRICS originally envisioned as a group of expanding emerging-market nations, there is concern that the admission of weaker economies could weaken the ties that the countries are trying to build within the bloc. O’Neill sees little economic logic for additional members.
“The case for expansion is very weak in my view unless they really have better collective purpose,” he said by email.
“They would need clear objectives, when it comes to dealing with economic, trade, health, green energy and finance issues.”
Other countries that have expressed interest in joining include Argentina, the UAE, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain and Indonesia, along with two nations from East Africa and one from West Africa, which Sooklal didn’t identify.
Putin Backing
Algerian media have reported the country’s interest and Argentina has expressed a desire to join the group.
Iran’s Fars News Agency reported that the country had applied for membership, citing a Foreign Ministry official, while Russian President Vladimir Putin last year said he backed Saudi Arabia’s potential entry.
China’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference on Feb. 10 that the country backs an expansion.
Not all BRICS members are as enthusiastic.
While Brazil agrees with the principle of expanding, the nation is still considering its position and is wary of the group being geographically tilted toward Asia, said two people familiar with the South American country’s thinking who asked not to be identified as public comment is yet to be made. It also wants Latin American countries to join, the people said.
India doesn’t want countries to be allowed to join on the recommendations of existing members and wants a process established so that nations have to meet certain criteria to be admitted, said a person familiar with the Asian country’s thinking.
Relations Tested
The implications of expanding BRICS, which South Africa backs, will be discussed in a series of meetings ahead of a full summit of the group in August. The government is confident all the BRICS nations’ leaders, including Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, will attend the gathering.
South Africa will invite other African leaders to the August summit, be they heads of state or the chairs of regional organizations such as the African Union and East African Community, as part of an attempt to widen the influence of BRICS, according to Sooklal.
Holding the group together has not been without its challenges. South Africa and Brazil’s economies have struggled over the past decade, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago has tested relations, with the NDB suspending new lending to Russia.
“Very often I am asked the question: You are so diverse in so many ways, how is it that you’ll function?” Sooklal said. “My extended answer has been ‘there are far more points of convergence than divergence’.”
