The UAE becoming a member of BRICS is a chance to boost trade and commit further capital to the New Development Bank, says Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri.

"We are actually going to push more" and will "indeed" inject capital into the bank, the Economy Minister announced on Monday.

The UAE received an invitation last week to join China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa in the group in what was its first expansion in 13 years.

Managing over $1 trillion in sovereign wealth capital, the UAE represents a strong contributor to the New Development Bank. The BRICS bank was established to finance development projects within emerging markets. 

The New Development Bank has $100 billion in authorised capital and, since it was set up, has approved projects totalling nearly $32 billion, Bloomberg reports.

Al Marri said the UAE is continuing to develop trade with the West whilst bolstering commerce with lesser-developed countries. 

"There is huge work that we're going to do, and we are going to focus on the West as well. We want peace and prosperity, and with that comes the economy and comes trade," the Economy Minister said.

In recent years, the UAE has reached trade agreements with Indonesia, Turkey and Israel, amongst others, and made a deal with India to use local currencies for cross-border transactions. Last year, China and India were the UAE's largest trade partners, followed by Japan and the US.

"Going to the Global South, that's the most important aspect where we are focusing on at the moment, and that will grow. While we double down on trade, that will be what we focus on," Al Marri added.

The BRICS membership is "huge to the UAE," the minister said. "Joining BRICS will add a lot to the UAE's multilateral support to the world. We are focusing on our global trade; the UAE has always been a global hub."