Seminar “Brazil-ASEAN: Prospects for an Emerging Partnership” – Brasília, April 3rd, 2024

Published in Mar 22, 2024 05:19 PM Updated in Apr 04, 2024 01:03 PM

The seminar “Brazil-ASEAN: prospects for an emerging partnership” will be held at the Itamaraty Palace on April 3rd. During the seminar, the book “Brazil and ASEAN: Partners for Peace and Development”, by Everton Lucero and Almir Nascimento, will be launched. Minister Mauro Vieira will open the event.

The seminar will take place in the San Tiago Dantas Room, from 9am to 12pm. Registration for in-person participation is available. The number of applications will be determined by considering the venue's occupancy limit. The event will be broadcast on FUNAG YouTube channel. It will include an opening panel and two thematic panels, with the participation of speakers from Brazil and Asia. The theme of the first panel will be trade and investment, and the second panel will address energy transition, with an emphasis on bioenergy.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a partner of growing importance for Brazil. ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) are located in a strategic region. With a population of nearly 670 million and growth rates of around 5.7% over the past two decades, ASEAN represents the fifth largest economy in the world. The IMF projects that the countries in the region will have accounted for 10% of global GDP growth in 2023.

Taken as a whole, ASEAN is today Brazil's third largest trading partner. In 2023, trade totaled $33.7 billion, when Brazilian trade surplus and total exports to the bloc both hit a record high. Following a 30% increase in trade flows with ASEAN in the first two months of 2024, Brazilian exports to Southeast Asia this year already account for nearly 80% of total exports to the European Union in the same period.

Brazil's political and diplomatic ties with ASEAN countries have also strengthened. In October 2023, Minister Mauro Vieira held the First Brazil-ASEAN-Indonesia Trilateral Meeting in Jakarta.