Islam Times - Bolivian President: Bolivia Sees Joining BRICS as Path towards Prosperity

Islam Times - Bolivia sees BRICS as an organization that provides expansive opportunities to its member states to grow economically, President of the South American republic Luis Arce said.

"BRICS is a space where huge opportunities are opening up, in trade, access to financial resources and speeding up our economic and social development, taking us to new frontiers," the Bolivian leader was quoted as saying by TASS.

"It is extremely important to continue on the path toward a sovereign, anti-hegemonic and multipolar world," he added.

Bolivia has "certain difficulties with availability of the dollar," which is why it is necessary to get out from under "US hegemony" as much as possible, Arce said.

"We have done a lot with Russia and China, for example, on the issue of lithium, we are also moving towards Bolivia's joining BRICS, demonstrating the advantages of multipolar world order over unipolarity. <…> This will open up a variety of possibilities for trade and access to economic resources," he said.

Since its inception in 2006, BRICS has experienced two phases of expansion. In 2011, South Africa joined the original group, which included Brazil, Russia, India, and China. On January 1, 2024, five new members officially entered BRICS, namely Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia. In July 2023, Arce announced his country’s wish to join BRICS.