Lula to seek market of 680 million inhabitants in Southeast Asia
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leaves on Tuesday (Oct. 21) for Southeast Asia, where he will visit Indonesia and Malaysia. His schedule includes participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and the East Asia Summit (EAS).
Lula will also hold bilateral meetings with the host countries and other visiting heads of state, including a confirmed meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, scheduled for Sunday (26) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A possible meeting with US President Donald Trump is also being considered. The president is scheduled to return to Brazil on October 28.
According to the Brazilian government, the main objectives of the trip include strengthening political ties with countries in the region and expanding bilateral trade.
“This is the first time a Brazilian president has participated as a guest in an ASEAN Summit,” said Ambassador Everton Frask Lucero, director of the Department of India, South, and Southeast Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a briefing with journalists about the trip.
Founded in 1967, ASEAN is a regional organization that promotes economic, political, security, and sociocultural cooperation among its members. During the upcoming summit, the association will formally welcome East Timor as its 11th member.
“From an economic standpoint, the 11 countries - including East Timor, which is now joining the association - have a combined population of over 680 million and an aggregate GDP of approximately $4 trillion. Taken together, they would constitute the world’s third-largest population and fourth-largest economy,” Lucero noted.
The ambassador also emphasized that Brazil’s trade with ASEAN countries exceeded $37 billion last year and continues to grow. If ASEAN were a single country, it would be Brazil’s fifth-largest trading partner, after China, the European Union, the United States, and Argentina.
Amid a climate of unilateral tariffs on international trade, ASEAN, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, could expand opportunities for Brazilian exports. Last year, the bloc’s countries accounted for more than 20 percent of Brazil’s global trade surplus, with a favorable balance of $15.5 billion.
Schedule in Indonesia
Lula’s first stop will be Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia and the region’s largest economy, where the president will be received on a state visit to reaffirm the bilateral strategic relationship. It also reciprocates Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s visit in July, shortly after the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The first official engagement will take place on Thursday morning (Oct. 23). After a reception ceremony for the Brazilian delegation at the Indonesian presidential palace, Lula will hold a private session with President Subianto, followed by an expanded meeting with ministers from both countries to sign official agreements and make a statement to the press.
After a lunch hosted by the Indonesian president, Lula will attend the closing of the business forum with representatives from both countries. Among the Brazilian participants alone, approximately 100 businesspeople are expected.
On Friday (24), the president will meet with the secretary-general of ASEAN, Cambodia’s Kao Kim Hourn. The organization’s headquarters are in the Indonesian capital. In the afternoon, Lula will depart for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
ASEAN and Honoris Causa
In Malaysia, Lula’s schedule will begin on Saturday (25) with an official visit and a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The two leaders have been fostering a political rapprochement in recent years, particularly because they share common views on global issues such as the Palestinian question, the war in Ukraine, the fight against hunger, and the need for reform in the global governance system.
“What is interesting to note is that we are already a long-standing, traditional trading partner of Malaysia, but we had never elevated this partnership to a level that was, shall we say, more political, more visibly political. The trip to Malaysia now affirms that we are expanding our presence, that we have an active voice, and that we hold concrete interests in a country central to the growth dynamics of the Southeast Asian region - one of the most economically dynamic of this century,” argued Ambassador Everton Frask Lucero.
In terms of bilateral cooperation, Brazil and Malaysia are expected to sign memoranda on semiconductor production - a sector in which the Asian country is a powerhouse - as well as on other matters related to science, technology, and renewable energy.
Also on Saturday, Lula will receive an honorary doctorate from the National University of Malaysia, where he will deliver a speech on Brazil’s vision for social, cultural, and political relations with Asia.
On Sunday (26), the president will attend the opening session of the 47th ASEAN Summit, meet with Brazilian and Malaysian business leaders, and participate in a forum with ASEAN business leaders.
On the same day, he will also hold bilateral meetings with other leaders. So far, only the meeting with India’s Narendra Modi has been confirmed.
Trump
On Sunday, Lula is also expected to meet with US President Donald Trump amid talks of a rapprochement between Brazil and the United States following the US government’s imposition of trade tariffs in August. Trump is among the foreign leaders expected at the ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit, which will take place shortly afterward.
Lula’s trip continues on Monday (27), with the president participating in the 20th East Asia Summit (EAS), also in Kuala Lumpur, where he is expected to deliver a speech.
The EAS is a forum that brings together 18 countries from Asia and Oceania, including the members of ASEAN, as well as Russia, the US, South Korea, Australia, India, China, Japan, and New Zealand. The meetings are usually held annually, typically following the ASEAN summits.
