Lula sees room to double trade flow between Brazil and Portugal

To double the flow of trade between Brazil and Portugal – valuing the common language and seeking out new achievements for the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries.  To combat fake news, hate speech and political violence fueled by false stories in digital environments.  To promote growth through social equity.  To encourage multilateral dialogue so that the United Nations may more faithfully mirror world geopolitics.  To bring the climate change, energy transition and environmental agenda to the center of the board of global discussions – and to strive for a negotiated solution to promote peace between Ukraine and Russia.

These were the topics Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva highlighted in a speech on this that is his first visit to Portugal during his third term in office. Lula spoke today (22) to journalists in Lisbon alongside the president of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo.

“We’ve got extraordinary potential to double the flow of foreign trade between our countries.  We can be bolder – allow our businesspersons and our ministers to talk to each other more.  To discuss prospects for funding our industries and products.  The role of a ruler is to open doors, but businesspersons are the ones who know how to do business – and that have the competence to do so,” said Lula.

The two heads of state issued a joint statement after Lula took part in a welcoming ceremony at Praça do Império; laid flowers next to poet Luís de Camões’ tomb at the Jerónimos Monastery; and met privately with the Portuguese president at the Palace of Belém.

When highlighting how important it is to work together to expand economic relations between Brazil and Portugal, President Lula stressed that he has great expectations for the meeting to be held between representatives of both countries’ productive sectors on Sunday (23), in the city of Porto. To the president, this is a huge opportunity to expand prospects for job creation and economic growth, and to improve the lives of the people of both countries.

Currently, bilateral trade between the countries has reached USD 5.26 billion – USD 4.27 billion in Brazilian exports headed by the oil sector (59% of the total).  Agricultural products represent around 20% of the total.

When addressing Lula, Marcelo Rebelo recalled that Portugal has hosted the Brazilian president on six different occasions, “once with President Jorge Sampaio, four with President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, and one during my term,” and highlighted the many affinities that unite Brazil and Portugal.

“Welcome to this nation that is so indebted to hundreds of thousands of Brazilian brothers – and that owes them so much for their universal, personal and social donation: in schools, day care centers, hospitals, social solidarity institutions; in the support of informal caregivers; in companies, foundations, charities and, of course, everyday culture,” said Marcelo Rabelo in reference to the thousands of Brazilians now living in Portugal and the thousands of Portuguese now living in Brazil.

Lula’s visit is also his first to Europe since the beginning of this third term as president – and signals both the rebirth of bilateral dialogue and an opportunity to expand economic and social relations between the two countries.

Brazil’s president also mentioned the many Brazilians currently in Portugal: there are 252 thousand Brazilian citizens now living legally in Portugal, according to official August 2022 Portuguese data.

Lula pointed out that the two countries share the challenge of promoting this flow in a more digitized world. This was also highlighted by Marcelo Rebelo, who said the goal of the meeting was to “deal with the situation of our countries, of our peoples, and to build this future in scientific understanding, innovation, creativity, technology, digital, energy, education, economy – and in the civil and military, social, bilateral and multilateral spheres.”

FAKE NEWS – President Lula recalled that the two democracies are experiencing a challenging moment in the face of digital environments, especially regarding the spread of hate speech, extremism, and fake news.  The consequence of all this, according to Lula, has been the denial of politics, institutions, unions, the free press and even democracy itself as fundamental values ​​to both societies.  “Once you start denying politics, what comes after is always much worse,” he observed. 

Lula also stated that Brazil has been focusing on talks with big techs, and on drafting a bill to be sent to the National Congress to create a minimum regulation that prevents the spread of fake news on the internet.

“It’s almost our obligation to fight indiscriminate misinformation as it is today. We need effective governance which also considers tech companies’ responsibility to combat illegal content,” he stressed.

CLIMATE CHANGE – Brazil’s leader reinforced the potential that is inherent to the union of Brazil and Portugal in matters concerning climate change.  According to Lula, Brazil will be relentless in its fight against environmental crimes. He reiterated Brazil's commitment to zero deforestation by 2030. "We will be rigorous in repressing illegal mining and against those who attack indigenous peoples," said the Brazilian president.

Lula stated that he sees many opportunities for exchanges between Brazil and Portugal regarding good environmental management, through sharing of Brazilian biodiversity with scientists and researchers from all over the world to encourage medicine production and to generate opportunities.

To the Brazilian leader, international decision-making bodies also play an important role.  According to him, establishing governance to ensure decisions are applied is as important as multilateral climate decisions themselves. “Some decisions from the 2009 COP in Copenhagen have not yet been implemented. The Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol have not yet been put into practice,” said Lula.

Still on the subject of geopolitics, the president defended that the United Nations Security Council should be reformed to include more countries and continents – and to reflect world geography.  “Continents have changed, countries have changed,” argued Lula while defending articulation with other countries to make the UN more representative.

PEACE IN UKRAINE – The Brazilian president once again emphasized that Brazil condemns the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and that it defends a political and negotiated solution to the conflict.  “I have never equaled Russia and Ukraine.  I know what invasion is and what territorial integrity is – but now the war has already started, and someone has to discuss peace.  We must urgently create a group of countries to try to sit down with Ukraine and Russia to find peace,” he said.

The Portuguese president highlighted Brazil's return to major international discussions and the country's efforts to promote peace in the world.  “Brazil is back on the world stage, to multilateralism, to dialogue between cultures, continents, and oceans.  It's a geopolitical colossus that wants to make bridges, discover paths, and promote peace and justice,” said Marcelo Rebelo.

In this sense, Lula said that his government has devoted special attention to growth alongside equity to once again make Brazil an example of economic strength, institutional trustworthiness and social justice – and promised to work towards making relations between Brazil and Portugal more and more intense and fraternal.

“Portugal has been a special partner in this task.  There are few countries in the world with whom we share such a common identity and so many common values. Countless Portuguese people have bet on Brazil throughout history and in many different situations.  Therefore, I think the relationship between Brazil and Portugal will improve a great deal, because I myself will strive for even more positive things to happen between the two countries,” said Lula.

AGENDA – Also Today, President Lula will participate in the plenary meeting of the XIII Luso-Brazilian Summit alongside Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa. This is the main bilateral meeting between the two countries and will be held at the Centro Cultural de Belém. Later, Lula will take part in a signing ceremony.