Indonesia officially became a member of the BRICS group in January 2025. Now, the South-South cooperation, which was established in 2001, has 11 member countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran.

Indonesia's joining BRICS opens up opportunities to increase economic cooperation, especially non-oil and gas exports to member countries. Until 2024, the value of Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports to the other 10 member countries was recorded at US$92.5 billion, or about 37 percent of total non-oil and gas exports. The largest portion of Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports is to China (24.15 percent) and India (8.13 percent).

Opportunities to boost exports to the BRICS countries can mainly be aimed at China and South Africa. Non-oil and gas exports to the two countries in 2024 decreased compared to 2023, respectively -3.06 percent and -6.27 percent. In addition, opportunities can also be explored with Brazil, Russia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Iran, whose role in total non-oil and gas exports is still below 1 percent.