Brasilia.- The Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, accompanied by a business delegation, will begin today on a two-day official visit to Brazil, where he will hold a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Planalto Palace reported that both will sign at this headquarters of the Executive Branch in Brasilia a bilateral cooperation agreement on various environmental issues that include climate change and the process of reducing carbon emissions.
After the signing ceremony, the two rulers will have a working lunch at the Itamaraty Palace, headquarters of the Foreign Ministry.
During the working meeting, the leaders will address topics on the bilateral agenda such as: increasing trade and investment flows, consular affairs, science, technology and innovation, partnership in energy transition and cooperation in environmental initiatives.
In the context of the current Brazilian presidency of the G20, a group of the 19 largest economies in the world and the European and African unions, they also propose to discuss initiatives to combat hunger and poverty.
Also about climate change in light of the COP30 (United Nations Conference) in Belém, capital of the northern state of Pará (2025), the reform of international governance, including the United Nations, and other issues related to peace, security and disarmament.
In Sao Paulo, the Japanese head of government will carry out activities tomorrow with the Japanese-Brazilian community, with commitments in the academic and cultural spheres.
Likewise, he will participate, alongside the vice president and minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, in the Brazil-Japan Business Forum, with leaders of the private initiative from both countries.
Brazil has the largest Japanese-descendant population outside of the Asian country, estimated at more than two million people.
For its part, Japan is home to the fifth largest Brazilian community abroad, with nearly 211 thousand nationals.
Both countries maintain a strategic and global partnership that will complete a decade in August.
Lula visited Tokyo in May 2023, in response to an invitation from Kishida, for the G7 Summit (group of the most industrialized countries in the world, composed of: Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) , in Hiroshima, on which occasion they also held a bilateral meeting.
During the stay, an understanding was reached for the adoption of a visa exemption policy for visits of up to 90 days, effective from September 2023.
In 2023, Japan was Brazil’s second trading partner in Asia and ninth in the world, with a trade exchange of 11.7 billion dollars and a Brazilian surplus of 1.491 billion. (P.L.)
