KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's recognition as one of the 13 BRICS partner countries will provide a platform for smaller nations to have a say in global economic matters, economists said.
They said with BRICS, Malaysia also has access to more markets for exports.
Nusantara Academy of Strategic Research senior fellow Professor Dr Azmi Hassan said as a small nation, Malaysia wanted a platform to be heard along with other South nations.
"Major organisations that make decisions such as the World Bank or G7 is controlled by the developed North nations, except Japan in the G7 bloc," he said.
He added that major decisions such as those on global economy and trading activities were usually made by the global North countries, without considering the smaller nations such as Malaysia although the decisions affect the latter group as well.
"With BRICS, the long-term effect will be surely what Malaysia is looking for, which is to have a voice. Furthermore, any policies or decisions ok global economy can also be enhanced by BRICS," he added.
According to an update from @BRICSInfo on X, the bloc officially added 13 nations to the alliance as partner countries, though not yet as full members.
Besides Malaysia, the other nations are Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
On June 18, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim confirmed Malaysia's intention to join BRICS during a discussion with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
BRICS - originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, and China - was established in 2009 as a cooperation platform for emerging economies, with South Africa joining in 2010.
The bloc has since expanded to include Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said Malaysia will continue to have better access to big markets such as BRICS.
He said BRICS also enable Malaysia to have better access to raw material, larger markets for exporters, and can become catalyst for micro, small and medium enterprises to be integrated to the global supply chain.
"To make it more sustainable, the partnership should involve technology transfers as this will allow our local players to scale up gain the competitive advantage," he added.