United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on Thursday that he calls for restoring trust in multilateralism for the 21st century.
"I have come to the BRICS Summit with a simple message: in a fracturing world overwhelmed by crises, there is simply no alternative to cooperation," Guterres wrote on X Platform (previously known as Twitter).
"As we move towards a multipolar world, we must urgently restore trust & reinvigorate multilateralism for the 21st century."
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to become members of the BRICS group of developing nations in its first expansion in over a decade.
Also joining next year will be Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Argentina, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday as he wrapped up the annual summit of the group in Johannesburg.
All the countries invited had already expressed an interest in joining. The group currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
BRICS held its first summit in 2009 with four members and then added South Africa the following year. It launched its New Development Bank in 2015.
The United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan said on X, formerly Twitter: “We appreciate the inclusion of the UAE as a member to this important group.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that his country looks forward to joining BRICS to strengthen economic cooperation among its members, as well as “raise the voice of the Global South,” according to the presidential spokesperson.
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