Uruguay among first 3 non-BRICS countries admitted to New Development Bank

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguay, Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates have become the first countries to be admitted as full members of the New Development Bank (NDB), which until now consisted of the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

President of the NDB, Brazilian entrepreneur Marcos Troyjo welcomed the addition of the new members.

“We are delighted to welcome the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Bangladesh to the NDB family. The new members will have in the NDB a platform to further their cooperation in infrastructure and sustainable development,” the executive highlighted.

According to Uruguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance Azucena Arbeleche, the country “sees in the NDB a great opportunity to leverage cooperation with its member countries, with the goal of achieving stronger international integration in cross-border trade and investment flows.”

The New Development Bank whose creation was announced by the BRICS at the Fortaleza (Brazil) summit in July 2014, aims to finance the founding countries’ infrastructure projects and offer funds to other developing nations.

The Shanghai-based institution was established with an initial capital of US$100 billion.