Jakarta. Indonesia is seeking to join the BRICS-backed New Development Bank or NDB “as soon as possible” as President Prabowo Subianto gears up for his debut at the bloc’s upcoming high-level talks.

Indonesia officially became part of the China-led BRICS bloc early this year. Southeast Asia’s largest economy now wants to secure a seat at the group’s multilateral development bank, NDB. Senior minister Airlangga Hartarto said Wednesday that Jakarta had already expressed its intentions for an NDB membership when the bank’s boss Dilma Roussef visited the country back in March. 

“Indonesia will join the NDB. We have already told its chair Dilma Roussef that we want to join the bank,” Airlangga told reporters in Jakarta.

The Jakarta Globe asked the minister whether Jakarta had set a target for the NDB membership. Airlangga only responded with “The target is ASAP [as soon as possible]” before heading to his office.

BRICS was originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The group eventually brought Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Indonesia into its fold. Prabowo is set to travel to Rio de Janeiro soon for next week’s BRICS Summit, which will fall on July 6-7. This would be Prabowo’s first-ever appearance at the summit.

In 2014, the five BRICS founding nations inked a deal to create the NDB to increase the amount of money loaned to developing economies. The bank later expanded to Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Algeria. 

The bank’s terms and conditions, which it had launched back in 2017, showed that NDB opened its doors for UN members. Both borrowing and non-borrowing countries may also apply to the NDB. 

To join, Indonesia will have to gain the affirmative vote of four of the founding members, concurrent with a yes from two-thirds of the total voting power at the bank’s board of governors or its highest decision-making authority. Jakarta will have to engage in formal negotiations, which include a timeline that lays out when the NDB hopeful can complete the internal procedures required for admission, according to the document. 

The bank has greenlit $39 billion in financing to date. The money went to as many as 120 projects, some of which are related to transport infrastructure and clean energy. Members also have to pay a paid-in capital to the NDB.

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