Vietnam is actively working on a bid to join the BRICS economic group, Russia’s Izvestia newspaper has reported.
Vietnam is a developing country with a population of over 99 million people, and has a mixed socialist-oriented market economy. It is the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product and the 26th-largest economy in the world by purchasing power parity. It is strategically positioned on the South China Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
BRICS members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa were joined by Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates as part of a major expansion on Janiary 1, 2024. Saudi Arabia has also been approved as a member and is reportedly considering final ratification of its accession.
Vietnam has yet to make a decision on a formal membership bid, although it is establishing a framework for BRICS participation and a potential request to join the group, Izvestia said, citing the Asian nation’s diplomatic mission in Moscow. Hanoi has not revealed if Vietnam will send a delegation to the BRICS summit scheduled for the Russian city of Kazan in October.
The bloc’s political and economic influence has increased significantly since sanctions were imposed on Moscow by the US and its allies following the start of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Numerous other nations have expressed interest in becoming BRICS members, and some have already formally submitted applications, including Venezuela, Thailand, Senegal, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Bahrain, and Pakistan.
Vietnam’s economy has been a development success story. Economic reforms undertaken over the past four decades have helped propel the country from being one of the world’s poorest nations to a middle-income economy in one generation. The Vietnamese economy grew by 5.05% in 2023 and the World Bank has forecast steady GDP growth in the coming years.
Vietnam’s manufacturing sector includes industries such as textiles and garments, electronics, machinery, footwear, and food processing.
Source: RT News, 11 Apr 2024.