Argentine President Alberto Fernandez handed over to BRICS's New Development Bank President, Dilma Rousseff, an official letter on the country's desire to join the financial organization during a meeting on Tuesday in China's Shanghai, the president's office said.
"During the meeting, the president has handed over to the president of the New Development Bank an official letter, which is the first step on the path to joining [the organization]," the office said in a statement.
In addition, Argentina's presidential election is scheduled for October 22. The main contenders for the presidency are Sergio Massa, the incumbent economy minister running on the platform of the ruling Union for the Homeland party, and opposition politicians, including former security minister Patricia Bullrich, Buenos Aires mayor Horacio Larreta and far-right libertarian economist Javier Milei. In mid-August, the latter secured victory in the presidential primaries with 30.38% of the votes, while Massa and his colleagues in the ruling party received 27.02%.
Massa's adviser Gustavo Martinez Pandiani has told Sputnik that Argentina, which was invited to become a member of BRICS in late August, would apply for funding from the grouping's New Development Bank to finance domestic infrastructure projects if Massa becomes the next president. However, other contenders for the presidency, including Milei and Bullrich, oppose Argentina's accession to BRICS.
During the 15th edition of the BRICS summit of this year, Argentina was one of the countries officially invited to join the bloc from January 1, 2024. The New Development Bank, established by the BRICS countries in 2015, is a multilateral development bank that aims to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS countries.