As we touched on in that interview, for many of the last few years, there's been endless debate about which other countries might yet claim membership of the exclusive BRICS club. Nigeria, perhaps, would love to become a new partner of BRINCS, as it might be known. Or what about Indonesia? iBRICS, perhaps. Actually, some Indonesians have recently argued that with its 250 million citizens and 7% growth, Indonesia has more to be said for it joining the club than that established BRIC member, India. The BBC's Karishma Vaswani, previously reported from Mumbai in India. She's now based in Jakarta.
"On the face of it, India and Indonesia's economies have a lot in common, certainly more than just their first initials. When I first moved from Mumbai, India's business capital, to Jakarta, what struck me was the level of conspicuous consumption in both cities, contrasted with the startling and shocking poverty. India and Indonesia are both important economies in their own right: fast-growing, with large and young populations keen to acquire new goods and taste new freedoms. These two economies are also mainly driven by domestic consumption. But while India has seen its economy stumble recently after many years of strong growth, Indonesia's strengths have made it the darling of international investors, although it, too, has also seen economic growth decline moderately. One of the comments you always hear about Indonesia's potential is the size of its domestic market."
