Despite its invitation to join the bloc and current trade relationships with fellow nations, Saudi Arabia has yet to officially join the BRICS alliance. That is according to the Kingdom’s minister of commerce, who spoke Tuesday in a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Saudi Arabia has been invited to attend BRICs, we have not yet officially joined BRICs,” Majid Al-Kasabi said in a first comment from Saudi officials after the proposed Jan. 1 joining date passed. This comment is contrary to earlier reports from Saudi state TV. The platform earlier this month claimed that Saudi Arabia officially joined the BRICS bloc. However, since those reports, Saudi state TV has wiped all previous coverage stating that the nation accepted the invitation.
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The Saudi government has not confirmed this declaration by the minister of commerce. However, this would mark the second nation to be invited to but not join BRICS after Argentina made clear it would not join the bloc after being invited last August. The bloc invited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, and Ethiopia to join in August.
Despite the invitation, the Saudi Arabian-United States relationship is still a strong one. Hence a reason why the nation has yet to join BRICS. With growing tensions between BRICS and the US, particularly with BRICS founder China, Saudi Arabia has a decision to make. Pursuing relationships with both BRICS and the US may be a difficult one.