RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on Tuesday took part a BRICS Outreach ministerial meeting in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The Kingdom was attending as a guest country that has been invited to join the group. BRICS is a group of emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, who were joined at the start of this year by new members Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE. Argentina and Saudi Arabia were also invited to join but the former withdrew its application following a change of president in November, and the latter has said it is still considering membership. The theme of Tuesday’s meeting was “BRICS Dialogue with Developing Countries,” the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said. Other Saudi representatives included the ambassador to Russia, Abdulrahman Al-Ahmad, the director general of the foreign minister’s office, Abdulrahman Al-Daoud, and the director general of international organizations, Shaher Al-Khonaini. Prince Faisal also held talks at the event with Iran’s acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri, during which they discussed bilateral relations and other issues, including the latest developments in the Gaza Strip, and the city of Rafah in particular. The prince held separate meetings with his Thai and Brazilian counterparts, Maris Sangiampongsa and Mauro Vieira respectively, during which they discussed relations between their countries and ways in which they might be enhanced in various fields, and ways to boost bilateral and multilateral coordination on issues of mutual concern. He also met Sergei Aleinik, the Belarusian foreign minister, to discuss relations and the latest regional and international developments.