Thailand received an invitation from Russia, which chairs BRICS in 2024, and will join BRICS as partner state starting January 1, 2025, Thailand's Foreign Ministry said in a press release on Monday.
The partnership between Thailand and the organization will focus mainly on trade, investment and tourism, although other areas of cooperation are not ruled out, according to the statement.
"Beyond economic cooperation, Thailand's engagement with BRICS reinforces its commitment to multilateralism, particularly among developing countries. Thailand also expresses its readiness to be the bridge builder between BRICS and other regional groupings, such as ASEAN [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations], APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation], ACD [Asian Cooperation Dialogue], and BIMSTEC [Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation]," the ministry emphasized.