Should Indonesia Join the BRICS? Opportunities and Challenges Worth Considering
Written by Nisrina Putri
On Thursday, August 24, 2023, President Joko Widodo departed to Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend the 15th BRICS Summit as an invited country. There are 67 countries invited to the 15th BRICS Summit. Earlier, it was widely reported there were 40 countries interested in joining the BRICS, including Indonesia. BRICS is an acronym that denotes developing national economies such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa whose focus includes economic cooperation and increasing multilateral trade and development. The possibility of Indonesia joining the group has become one of the lively debates in the public. Indonesia is considered suitable to join the BRICS for it is a major emerging country in Southeast Asia, estimated to be among the world’s top five economies by the middle of the century (Llewellyn, 2023).
The President of the Republic of Indonesia ultimately announced that Indonesia has not decided to join the BRICS. As reported by the Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia (2023), President Joko Widodo revealed that Indonesia has not joined the group because they intend to conduct a thorough study and calculation and do not want to make any hasty decision. The BRICS -finally decided to welcome Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) into the family. Their membership will take effect on January 1, 2024.
Suspending its membership in BRICS is Indonesia’s most appropriate, wise, and reasonable decision. Before joining BRICS, Indonesia must be able to answer the big question of the benefits and risks arising from joining BRICS for Indonesia’s interests in having independent and active diplomacy and efforts to improve the welfare of the Indonesian people (Ampri, 2023). As a country that tends to choose a neutral stance amid political polarization, especially competition between big powers, joining BRICS could backfire for Indonesia. Despite its similarities with other developing countries, Indonesia still has long-standing concerns about its involvement in geopolitical alliances. Indonesia is also measuring and calculating the uncertainty of the economic benefits that come from being part of the group apart from considerations in the political aspect.
Indonesia needs to carry out a comprehensive assessment of political impacts that will arise, considering differences in ideology, foreign policy, and influence on global politics (Utama, 2023). One of Indonesia’s concerns could be the prospect of joining a group with countries like China and Russia. Airlangga University’s Dharmaputra said that “Indonesia’s image as part of the China-Russia world would be a problem, especially since Indonesia places great emphasis on its independent and active foreign policy” (Llewellyn, 2023). If Indonesia chooses to join the BRICS, the Western group will see it as a signal to take sides with Russia and China. This could greatly affect Indonesia’s diplomatic relations with the US, China, or Russia, which have been going well so far. According to Rachman (2023) in The Conversation, joining BRICS will only trap Indonesia in an unnecessarily complicated situation and make it difficult for Indonesia to take a global political stance, especially when responding to Russia-Ukraine geopolitical tensions or the US-China trade war.
From an economic perspective, there are different opinions among experts about the prospects and the benefits extension that BRICS could bring to Indonesia. Some believe that BRICS has an important role as an economic partner for Indonesia. According to Rachman (2023), with a total economic value reaching 33.6% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and representing 45% of the world’s total population, BRICS is a strategic partner for ASEAN countries such as Indonesia. The promotion of de-dollarization from BRICS countries is basically in line with Indonesia’s plan to intensify the use of the rupiah to reduce dependence and minimize the decline in the exchange rate against the dollar. In this case, the BRICS’s New Development Bank (NDB) can help strengthen the rupiah currency as a means of international transactions. On the other hand, many experts believe that Indonesia will not gain much from joining BRICS. According to senior economist Yose Rizal Damuri, India and China are the only BRICS members that experienced strong economic growth during the 2010–2022 period, while Russia, Brazil, and South Africa have been growing in a stagnant manner (Shofa, 2023). Instead, Indonesia’s economic activity exceeds those three countries. Yose also added that intra-BRICS trade is insignificant in terms of numbers, with BRICS accounting for only 11.4 percent of the total global trade of its members in the pre-pandemic era and increased slightly to 11.9% during the post-pandemic period (Shofa, 2023). Other than that, Dharmaputra said that Indonesia was eyeing other global groups that offered more tangible benefits in the field of trade, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), joining BRICS would be seen as an obstacle to achieving this (Llewellyn, 2023).
Indonesia has made a wise decision not to rush into joining BRICS. It is better for Indonesia to study, calculate, and see the further developments of BRICS with its new members first. Even though BRICS is becoming more pragmatic and focused on development and trade agendas between developing countries, the possibility of becoming a proxy for the power struggle of large countries will remain (Rachman, 2023). Indonesia must not risk its good diplomatic relations with any parties. Instead, it is worth remembering that Indonesia should focus on expanding cooperation, investment, and technological development both with the Global North and the Global South.
References
Ampri, I. (2023, August 29). Manfaat dan Risiko Indonesia Bergabung di BRICS. Kompas.id. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://www.kompas.id/baca/opini/2023/08/28/manfaat-dan-risiko-indonesia-bergabung-di-brics
Llewellyn, A. (2023, August 28). Indonesia’s absence from bigger BRICS echoes decades of non-aligned policy. Al Jazeera. Retrieved September 6, 2023, from https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/8/28/indonesias-absence-from-bigger-brics-echoesdecadesof-non-alignedpolicy
Office of Assistant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents & Translation. (2023, August 24). President Jokowi: Indonesia Still Reviews Prospects for BRICS Membership. Sekretariat Kabinet. Retrieved September 8, 2023, from https://setkab.go.id/en/president-jokowi-indonesia-still-reviews-prospects-for-brics-membership/
Rachman, A. A. (2023, August 25). Indonesia tunda gabung BRICS: keputusan tepat, tapi aliansi ini tetap penting bagi ASEAN. The Conversation. Retrieved September 8, 2023, from https://theconversation.com/indonesia-tunda-gabung-brics-keputusan-tepat-tapi-aliansi-ini-tetap-penting-bagi-asean-212257
Shofa, J. N. (2023, August 28). BRICS Membership Lacks Economic Benefit for Indonesia: Expert. Jakarta Globe. Retrieved September 9, 2023, from https://jakartaglobe.id/business/brics-membership-lacks-economic-benefit-for-indonesia-expert
Utama, V. R. (2023, June 15). Perlukah Indonesia jadi anggota BRICS? Ini peluang dan tantangan yang patut dipertimbangkan sebelum bergabung. The Conversation. Retrieved September 8, 2023, from https://theconversation.com/perlukah-indonesia-jadi-anggota-brics-ini-peluang-dan-tantangan-yang-patut-dipertimbangkan-sebelum-bergabung-207013
