The 2023 BRICS Bisieness Forum was held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, on August 22, 2023.(PHOTO: VCG)

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on the final day of the 15th BRICS Summit that six nations, namely Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had been invited to become new BRICS members from January 1, 2024.

The expansion, which is seen as a new starting point for BRICS cooperation, reflects the resolution of the group to unite and cooperate with other developing countries.

BRICS is an equal partnership of countries that have differing views but a shared vision for a better world, said Ramaphosa, adding, "As the five BRICS members, we have reached agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process."

The expansion and modernization of BRICS is a message that all institutions in the world need to mould themselves according to changing times, said India's prime minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hailed it is "a great moment" for his country. He wrote on X（Twitter） : "Ethiopia stands ready to cooperate with all for an inclusive and prosperous global order."

"We look forward to develop this cooperation to create new developmental and economic opportunities and elevate our relationship to the aspired level," Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister told Saudi channel Al Arabiya.

Besides the six countries, dozens of countries are in fact eager to join BRICS. Over 40 countries, including Algeria, Bolivia, Indonesia, Egypt, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Gabon, and Kazakhstanhave expressed interest in joining the group, Reuters reported.

The inclusion of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran and Egypt marks the first Middle East and North Africa representation in the group.

Iran, which holds the world's second-largest gas reserves and a quarter of the oil reserves in the Middle East, applied to join BRICS in June as part of its efforts to strengthen economic and political ties with non-Western powers, according to The New York Times.

Iran's cooperation with BRICS has mutual benefits, said the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on August 21.

Why are so many nations lining up to join BRICS?

The first contribution of BRICS to the world is normative power, said the on-line magazine Modern Diplomacy. "The strings-attached approach of Western geoeconomic engagement is being resoundingly rejected by the world," it said, adding that BRICS is merely seeking to buttress the concept of sovereignty and free will in international relations.

BRICS currently makes up a quarter of the global economy, accounting for a fifth of global trade, and is home to more than 40 percent of the world's population, according to Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.

During the years since its launch, BRICS has flourished in a wide range of fields such as trade and investment, energy and resources, supply chains, agriculture and food security, as well as global sci-tech cooperation.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remarked that the relevance of the BRICS is demonstrated by the growing interest of other countries to "join our group".

The addition of new members would strengthen the group and increase confidence in the idea of multipolar world order, according to The Hindu.

Moreover, it will also inject fresh vitality into the BRICS cooperation mechanism, and further strengthen momentum toward world peace and development.