ANKARA 

Malaysia's investment minister said on Tuesday that joining the intergovernmental organization BRICS would provide the country with various economic benefits, indicating that Kuala Lumpur is considering joining the bloc, which has recently grown from five to nine members, with several others expressing interest.

Malaysian Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz commented ahead of Chinese Premier Li Qiang's visit to Kuala Lumpur later in the day.

“Our neighbouring country, Thailand, a member of ASEAN, has also expressed interest and started the process of joining BRICS," Free Malaysia Today quoted Aziz as saying.

“We are waiting to start further discussions on BRICS as mentioned by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim,” he added.

The minister said the bloc is expanding as more countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, join it.

BRICS is a bloc of emerging economies, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In January this year, it welcomed Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE as full members.

The group was founded in June 2006 at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum with the participation of the ministers of economy of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. It added South Africa in 2010.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid