Jakarta. Mathias Cormann, the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said Tuesday that he didn’t mind that the group’s candidate member Indonesia also wanted to join the China-dominated BRICS bloc.

The Prabowo Subianto government began its first week in office by announcing Indonesia’s interest in BRICS, which originally encompassed Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Under the previous Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration, Indonesia applied to be part of the OECD all in hopes to become an advanced economy. OECD members are mostly countries with high gross national incomes, including the US. Washington’s rival China is not an OECD member, but has long been working with the rich-country club as a key partner.

Prabowo has said that he sees “no problem” with Indonesia seeking OECD and BRICS at the same time. Cormann echoed similar sentiments when asked whether Indonesia’s BRICS candidacy would affect the dynamics of Jakarta’s OECD membership bid. 

“The very short answer is no,” Cormann told the US-Investment Summit in Jakarta. 

The OECD is open to the idea of Indonesia joining BRICS, according to Cormann. All that matters is for Indonesia to prove that it is up to OECD's standard.  Cormann pointed out there were still many areas Indonesia must work on to pass the group's in-depth review process, citing the country’s “comparatively low labor productivity” as an example.

He added: “What matters is [Indonesia’s] commitment to align with the OECD’s policy, best practices, and standards. That is what Indonesia’s application will be judged on. ”

Indonesia is also not the only country that wants to be in both groups, Cormann told the forum. BRICS founding member Brazil applied for accession to the OECD in 2022. 

Cormann said that Indonesia’s interests in both OECD and BRICS only reflected the country’s non-aligned foreign policy of not aligning with any superpowers. The OECD boss said: “We fully understand Indonesia’s policy posture as a non-aligned, independent nation."

Later that day, Ex Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Dino Patti Djalal made a similar comment on how the candidacies did not mean that Indonesia had changed diplomatic stance.

“The OECD is a non-geopolitical grouping and includes countries that have met certain criteria. … Being a full-fledged member of the OECD is a good move for us. … On the other hand, BRICS is somewhat geopolitical in nature. But Indonesia’s candidacy [in BRICS] does not mean a shift in Indonesia’s foreign policy alignment,” Dino said.

“We are already in ASEAN, APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation], the G20, and now we are pursuing the OECD as well. We simply want to expand our reach [by being a BRICS member]. But I doubt we can gain a new market in BRICS."

Jakarta aims to secure the OECD seat by 2027 officially. Indonesia has also already gained the “partner country” status to BRICS. The two groups do not set any deadline for Jakarta's candidacy, although the OECD is known to have tougher membership requirements.

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