Indonesia will continue to pursue its important role in creating a more inclusive, just, and equitable world order, with the desire to become a full member of BRICS.
In July 2023, Indonesia accepted the invitation to participate in the BRICS meeting. Indonesian President ‘Joko Widodo’ said he was considering membership, but was not in a hurry.
Indonesian approach
Indonesia’s new foreign minister, Sugiyono, announced at the 2024 BRICS annual summit in Kazan, Russia, that the country plans to seek full membership. Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced its intention to join BRICS.
This is a major foreign diplomacy approach of new Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto’s “Good Neighbor Policy”, while Indonesia has already decided not to rush into BRICS membership.
The Indonesian new president, at the inauguration ceremony on October 20, said that his administration will adopt “the old philosophy of having a thousand friends is too few, and one enemy is too many.” In other words, Indonesia wants to be friends with all countries and have an anti-colonial stance.
In addition, Prabowo announced in the presidential debate in January 2024 that Indonesia could become the leader of the ‘global south’. On October 24, 2024, Indonesia’s foreign minister also argued that BRICS “could become a vehicle to advance the interests of the ‘Global South’.”
From this point of view, Indonesia calls for the unity of developing countries and the global south for a more comprehensive, fairer, and more equal world order.
This approach has caused Indonesia’s joining BRICS to be considered as another manifestation of this country’s active and free foreign policy, and Jakarta will continue its membership in BRICS along with interaction with other organizations.
In the regional field, in early 2024, Malaysia and Thailand officially applied for BRICS membership and Vietnam and Thailand (Southeast Asia) are among the 13 new BRICS partner countries, Indonesia does not want to stay away from new opportunities of membership. In the country’s foreign policy under national interests, intensifying Indonesia’s international role, strengthening multilateralism, and relations with BRICS have been highlighted.
Opportunities
Having an important part of the world’s area, its population, its increasing role in the future of the world’s economy, and geopolitics, BRICS has increased its attractiveness.
Through membership in BRICS in the changing world geopolitics, Indonesia can pay more attention to increasing its international role, creating a new world order, and expanding South-South cooperation and multilateralism.
Also, joining a bloc that is strategically aligned with emerging powers can give special credit to the role of international mediation and diplomatic influence of the country, along with maintaining an independent foreign policy.
Indonesia with a good average annual economic growth, membership of the world’s top 20 economies, gross domestic product of over one trillion dollars, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, the fourth most populous country in the world, a 20-year development plan (from 2005 to 2025) and based on the vision 2045 (centenary of independence) wants to be in the fifth position of the world economy.
BRICS can provide important assistance to Indonesia in the development of the country, capital transfer, development of infrastructure and connectivity projects, support for national development, strengthening friendly international and regional relations and cooperation under national interests, and creating opportunities and interaction with the powers, increasing influence in international institutions, and becoming a high-income country by 2045.
BRICS members can play a role in Indonesia’s programs such as green economy, energy transition, domestic economic integration, infrastructure connectivity, investment support, mineral investment and export, strengthening food security, job creation, increasing exports, and developing a new capital.
BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) can be an alternative to institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an opportunity to find financial resources, reduce dependence on the dollar, grant soft loans, financial participation, sustainable development, stability of the currency, use local currencies, increase trade with local currencies and reduce Indonesia’s debts.
Indonesia has announced that in the next few years, focusing on industrialization, food security, and energy security, it will achieve the fastest economic growth in the world.
Therefore, according to the power of BRICS members, Indonesia can have good cooperation with BRICS in the field of energy and food security with members in the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Eurasia.
A large part of Indonesia’s trade is with the BRICS countries, and China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner. BRICS membership can be a step to benefit from trade development, the signing of new trade agreements and a potential source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia.
BRICS, with a population of about three billion, can provide potential export markets for Indonesia.
Challenges and prospects
Some opponents believe that Indonesia’s relations with BRICS may be affected by the country’s historical policy of non-commitment and make Indonesia’s foreign policy anti-Western or to interactions with the West and candidacy in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Membership in the OECD is one of the country’s goals, and Indonesia’s application was submitted in early May 2024. From this point of view, BRICS can put Indonesia’s relations with the West in a difficult position.
Indonesia is facing various threats. Indonesia should continue with BRICS in such a way as to fully ensure the alignment of its members with Indonesia’s national interests.
Historically, Indonesia has maintained a non-aligned foreign policy. The sensitivity of Indonesia’s independent, active, and peaceful foreign policy seems to be the increasing geopolitical tension between the United States and the BRICS members.
That means BRICS can complicate the reaction of the West and increase the negative geopolitical and geo-economic consequences of the West. However, many proponents argue that there are no standards for joining BRICS, (unlike the OECD), and it will not change Indonesia’s overall foreign policy.
As of early 2024, Indonesia appears to have been evaluating the benefits of joining BRICS. Weighing the potential benefits against the risks, the government is likely to move towards full BRICS membership (with economic and geopolitical approaches) in the coming months.
The decision to join BRICS is more political and geopolitical. From this point of view, in the current more active foreign policy, Indonesia will pursue its important role in creating a more inclusive, just, and equal world order with the desire to be a full member of BRICS.
Also, the BRICS group is in the development stage. In the meantime, considering the multiple good relations of this country with the main axes of BRICS, there does not seem to be any opposition to Indonesia joining BRICS among the old and new members of BRICS.
Samyar Rostami is a political observer and senior researcher in international relations, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”
