Brics to Include More States
Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed
The expansion of the Brics bloc to include Saudi Arabia and the UAE is expected to offer new investment opportunities for the Arab world’s two largest economies while boosting the group’s influence globally, analysts said.
Saudi Arabia along with the UAE, Egypt, Iran and Ethiopia joined Brics on January 1, doubling its membership to 10, with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa the original members.
“Expansion of the Brics multilateral bloc to include Saudi Arabia and UAE augurs extremely well amid ongoing geopolitical and economic challenges confronting the world economy,” Ullas Rao, assistant professor of finance at Edinburgh Business School of Heriot-Watt University in Dubai, said.
“Both Saudi and the UAE as [among] the richest countries on per capita and home to the biggest sovereign wealth funds, create enormous growth opportunities through investments, trade and commerce.”
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have continued to post economic growth despite global uncertainties including high interest rates, inflation and geopolitical tensions as they focus on diversifying their economies.
Saudi Arabia’s economy, which grew by 8.7 per cent in 2022, the highest annual growth rate among the world’s 20 biggest economies, is expected to expand by 0.8 per cent in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The kingdom is also focusing heavily on its non-oil economy as part of its Vision 2030 diversification agenda.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s economy is expected to grow 3.4 per cent in 2023 with oil GDP growth projected at 0.7 per cent and non-oil GDP at 4.5 per cent, backed by a strong performance in tourism, real estate, construction, transport, manufacturing and a surge in capital expenditure, according to a recent report from the World Bank.
