MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula, Japanese PM discuss bilateral trade and climate change

After Kishida, Lula met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met Saturday in Hiroshima with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of the G7 Summit to discuss further cooperation between the two countries, Agencia Brasil reported. Both leaders agreed to expand bilateral trade and combat climate change, among other issues.

“Brazil and Japan need to establish a more productive relationship not only from a commercial point of view, but also from a cultural, political, and science and technology point of view,” Lula told Kishida.

In 2022, the Brazil-Japan trade flow totaled US$ 11.9 billion, with a Brazilian surplus of about US$ 1.3 billion. The stock of direct investments from Japan in the Brazilian economy is close to US$ 22.8 billion.

Lula underlined the collaboration of Japanese immigrants in the growth of Brazil's economy and the investments of Brazilian companies in the Japanese market. This year marks the 115th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil. Today's community of Japanese descendants in the South American country is the largest in the world, with 2 million people.

“We had a great conversation with the Prime Minister of Japan. We talked about the need to resume and expand relations between entrepreneurs and companies of both countries. We have cultural ties with Japan and a large Japanese-Brazilian community. The expansion of our partnership will be important for the growth of our countries,” Lula said on Twitter.

Kishida proposed that the two countries have “broad discussions on issues such as climate, education, development, peace, and stability” and said his country was ”very willing to cooperate with Brazil. He also mentioned the importance of Brazil's role in the G20, which brings together the world's largest economies. In December, Brazil takes over the presidency of the group.

Lula then met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to discuss of global climate and forest preservation.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)