Presidents of Brazil and Italy discuss foreign trade and cultural exchange in Rome

President Luiz Inácio da Silva met with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella this Wednesday (June 21) in Rome. After the bilateral meeting at the Quirinale Palace, Mattarella hosted lunch for Lula and Brazil’s first lady Janja Lula da Silva.

The leaders discussed current world affairs as well as cultural issues shared by both countries. Lula invited the Italian president to visit Brazil and observed that it harbors the world’s largest Italian colony – making Brazil and Italy "brother countries".

Lula and Mattarella also discussed ways to expand cultural exchange and trade between Brazil and Italy, and the need to solve the war between Russia and Ukraine. A further topic was negotiation of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. Lula also highlighted his long-standing relationship with Italy.

"My relationship with Italy is historic, since the time I was a union leader. I now return to Italy to strengthen the relations and partnerships between our two nations", said the Brazilian president on Twitter.

"My first connections with Italy occurred when I became president of the Brazilian automobile industry’s Union of Metallurgical Workers in 1975; from then on, I began having connections with the Italian trade union movement, then meetings with parties and social movements in Italy", added the president.

OTHER MEETINGS – During his first meeting of the day in Rome, President Lula met with former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema. The two leaders discussed the political situation in Brazil, the European left wing, and social democracy in Europe.

Next, Lula met with Italian Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein, one of the leaders of the opposition in the local parliament, aged just 38, and discussed the political status quo in Italy and Brazil and the need for greater unity between progressive parties worldwide.

BILATERAL RELATIONS – Brazil and Italy have a long-standing partnership. Intense Italian immigration in the early 20s made Brazil the largest colony of Italians and descendants – harboring around 30 million people – in the world. The community of Brazilians in Italy is also considerable: around 100,000 people.

PARTNERSHIP – Brazil and Italy signed a Strategic Partnership agreement in 2007, during President Lula’s second term. In 2010, an Action Plan highlighting 16 key areas of cooperation between Brazil and Italy came into force.

VOLUME – In foreign trade, the volume of business between the two countries reached US$ 10.46 billion in 2022. Exports from Brazil to Italy added up to almost US$ 4.9 billion, making the European country the 15th main destination for Brazilian products. Brazil, on the other hand, imported around US$ 5.5 billion in Italian products – its seventh largest importation of goods.

The main Brazilian products exported to Italy were cellulose (17%), coffee (17%), crude oil (6.8%), soy (6.7%), and iron ore (6.3%). The Italian products that were most imported by Brazil were vehicle parts and accessories (7.3%), pharmaceutical products (6.8%), medicines (5.6%), industrialized products (4.8%), and engines (4.3%).