During a meeting held today, Sunday, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, elaborated on the significance of Iraq becoming a member of the BRICS group. He emphasized that this step is crucial for ensuring sustainable development and promoting the growth of Iraq’s economy in the future.
Saleh explained in a press statement that the BRICS group is an international economic coalition consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The group was named after the acronym “BRICS”, which was coined by Jim O’Neill, a financial expert from Goldman Sachs, in 2001. The group is expected to collectively dominate the global economy by 2050 due to its fast-growing economies.
He stated that Iraq has expressed its interest in joining the BRICS group due to the strong economic connections between the Iraqi economy and the markets of the BRICS group. Iraq’s current account of the balance of payments reflects its economic ties with the BRICS countries. The BRICS group includes some of the strongest emerging markets in the world. He also mentioned that Iraq’s oil exports, which account for at least 55 percent of its total exports, are directly dependent on the BRICS countries, particularly India and China.
He stated that currently, around 70% of Iraq’s imports originate from the BRICS countries. This indicates that there is a strong commercial partnership and mutual economic interest between Iraq and its commercial partners. Therefore, there is a need to look towards broader areas in the flow of investments and obtain benefits for joining in order to serve the future of sustainable development and economic progress in the country.
The BRICS group currently consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. These countries together occupy about 27 percent of the world’s land area and are home to 42 percent of the world’s population. They are also among the ten largest countries in terms of population, area, and gross domestic product (measured by purchasing power parity). India, China, and Russia are considered potential emerging great powers. All five countries in the BRICS group are members of the G20, which includes the United States of America and the rest of the G7.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani confirmed Iraq’s readiness to join BRICS if invited by the founding countries.
