UAE Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri on BRICS and beyond

UAE Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri on BRICS and beyond

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Joining the BRICS bloc of emerging economies by the UAE won’t come to the detriment of its ties with western nations, a top UAE official said, amid concern that China and Russia are expanding the group to counterbalance US and European influence.

The UAE is looking to its membership as an opportunity to develop trade and plans to commit more capital to the New Development Bank, the lender created by BRICS that the Gulf state joined two years ago, Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

“We are actually going to push more” and will “indeed” inject capital into the bank, the minister said, without specifying an amount.

UAE to join BRICS

The UAE was among six countries to receive invitations last week to join BRICS – a grouping of China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa in the group, its first expansion since 2010.

The UAE, one of the few countries to manage over $1tn in sovereign wealth capital, represents a potentially deep-pocketed contributor for the NDB, the BRICS bank set up to lend to development projects in emerging markets.

OPEC’s third-biggest producer can give more financial muscle to the BRICS lender formed as a counterweight