Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will attend the upcoming ASEAN-related summit later this month in Kuala Lumpur, joining other leaders from Africa, the US, China, and Russia, according to diplomatic sources.
President Lula, the current chair of BRICS, is scheduled to visit Malaysia during the 47th ASEAN Summit from October 25–27 as a guest of ASEAN’s chair, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Brazil became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in 2022. Both sides have agreed to increase high-level visits to strengthen their partnership. They also would promote the importance of capacity building and sharing best practices in areas including climate change, renewable energy, agriculture, food, and technology.
The bloc is Brazil’s third-largest trading partner after China and the US. Last year, ASEAN imported US$26.3 billion worth of goods, including iron ore, soybeans, wheat, and corn, among others.
Among the ASEAN members, Brazil has strong ties with Indonesia and Vietnam. Under the Brazilian chair, Indonesia was admitted as a BRICS member early this year, becoming the first ASEAN country to do so.
At the 33rd ASEAN Summit in Singapore in 2013, Sebastián Piñera of Chile attended as a guest of the chair. President Vladimir Putin also took part in Singapore’s summit.
In the Kuala Lumpur summit, other confirmed guests would include South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Furthermore, US President Donald Trump has told the chair that he would attend the summit later this month. Trump helped to push for a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia in July. He is interested in following up on the outcome of the ceasefire agreement and highlighting his role as a global peace dealmaker.
