Update: BRICS Invites Six Nations to Join as Expansion Moves Into Focus

The BRICS group of nations invited six countries — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — to join the emerging markets bloc as it made expansion a focus at this year’s summit.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, chair of the BRICS Summit, made the announcement Thursday at a media briefing, stating that the five current member states — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — reached an agreement on “the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures” of the expansion process.