Press statement by President Lula after bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Japan

My State Visit to Japan is the highlight of celebrations of 130 years of diplomatic relations between Brazil and Japan. Diplomatic relations that we commemorate this year, 2025.

I bring with me a significant delegation of ministers, parliamentarians, businesspeople, and trade unionists. We were warmly received yesterday by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. Today I held a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

We decided to hold periodic meetings every two years, reflecting the level of ambition in the Brazil-Japan relationship. We signed ten agreements with the Japanese government. Another 80 cooperation tools were signed by subnational entities, universities, research institutes, and companies.

We adopted the action plan for the strategic and global partnership, with concrete initiatives to revitalize our exchange. Taking care of the 211,000 Brazilians living in Japan is a priority. I reiterated to the Prime Minister the importance of strengthening Japanese language teaching to ensure the inclusion of 30,000 Brazilian children and teenagers in public education.

We agreed that our bilateral trade of 11 billion dollars does not reflect the size of our economies. Our goal is to surpass the 17 billion dollars recorded in 2011. The business forum held this morning expanded the horizons for cooperation with the private sector.

I hope to launch negotiations for an agreement with Japan during Brazil's presidency of Mercosur in the next semester. The acquisition of EMBRAER aircraft by Japanese companies shows the capabilities of our industry. The recent decision to increase the use of biofuels in transportation and aviation in Japan creates new opportunities to work together on the energy transition.

Decarbonization is a path of no return and is perfectly compatible with the goal of energy security.

There is no shortage of opportunities in Brazil.

Over the last two years, we exceeded expectations and grew by more than 3%.

A few days ago, I introduced bills to ensure that the tax system no longer hurts the poorest. We are spurring income generation  and reducing inequality. Brazil’s pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka will display our potential to the world.

Japan and Brazil will continue to work together on climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, combating deforestation and preventing natural disasters. I welcome Japan into the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, which we launched at the G20 and which will facilitate joint efforts to promote global food and nutrition security. Japan has also become the first Asian country to contribute to the Amazon Fund (Fundo Amazônia).

Brazil urges all world leaders to participate in the global effort against climate change at COP30, presenting ambitious NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) aligned with the 1.5°C target. Brazil’s NDC aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 59% to 67% by 2035 compared to 2005 levels. The Prime Minister and I agreed that sustainability, peace, and democracy are essential for the future of the planet. Extremism, hate speech, and fake news undermine institutions and foment intolerance.

In Ukraine, I have always advocated for the inclusion of all stakeholders in negotiations for lasting peace. For this reason, Brazil and other emerging countries have created a peace group.

The situation in the Middle East requires urgent responses from the international community. The recent violation of the ceasefire in Gaza adds to a series of affronts to humanitarian law.

2025 will be a key year for multilateralism. We need to unite around the common interests of humanity and at COP30 in Belém, the Financing for Development Conference in Seville and the G20 Summit in Johannesburg.

Finally, I told the Prime Minister that the defense of multilateralism will be a central theme of the BRICS Summit that Brazil will host in Rio de Janeiro.

Prime Minister Ishiba,

I would like to tell the Brazilian and Japanese press that our trip to Japan sets a new milestone of responsibility and greatness in the Japan-Brazil relationship.

We understand that the world is going through a difficult political situation, a complicated economic situation, and a great deal of insensitivity in political relations between States.

Commitments such as the Kyoto Protocol have not been met; agreements such as the Paris Agreement have not been met; and some countries have already given up. We are seeing countries that symbolized democratic action facing the risk of destabilization from the actions of the extreme-right.

We have seen what is happening in Europe, which was once a part of the world that lived in terms of tranquility. And today, after the war in Ukraine, what we are witnessing is Europe preparing again to buy weapons and invest in its armament. We are taking very seriously the end of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where many people have already been killed, and this week we had the sadness of seeing a Brazilian who was arrested in a prison in Israel.

For all these reasons, Prime Minister, the Brazil-Japan relationship is gaining a new dimension. Japan is a democratic country. Japan is a developed country from an economic, scientific, and technological standpoint.

Brazil is keeping pace with the need to develop, invest in education, invest in science and technology, and invest in research, because we are aware that a country cannot grow, develop, and become wealthy without massive and strong investment in education.

We want to learn from Japan, and we want to put into practice in Brazil all the scientific and technological advances Japan has made over recent years. And it is with this idea that I return to Brazil — to tell the Brazilian people that we have strengthened our relationship with Japan, that we want to increase our trade, that we want to sell and we want to buy, that we want to create partnerships between the Japanese and Brazilian industries, and that we want Japan to adopt, you know, in Brazil, the perspective of producing ethanol, green hydrogen, and renewable fuel.

We are absolutely certain that Brazil will be almost the flagship of the energy transition in the 21st century. We have a potential that few countries in the world possess. And we want to rely on Japanese expertise, Japanese technology, and Japanese investment, so that Brazil in the 21st century ceases to be just an emerging country or a developing country, and definitively transforms into a developed country from a technological and scientific standpoint, a developed country from the perspective of competence, industry competitiveness, and a developed country in terms of the quality of life of the Brazilian people.

This is why we have made a robust land reform. This is why we are investing in education. This is why we are investing in infrastructure. The largest investment ever made by Brazil in infrastructure, including railways, roads, ports, airports, and waterways, with an investment of one trillion seven hundred billion reais. And with this perspective, I leave Japan to tell not only the Brazilian Nikkei community, but also the Brazilian people, that the relationship between Brazil and Japan has reached a new level, and that we want, for both Japan and Brazil, an improvement in the quality of life for the Brazilian and Japanese people.

Freedom for Japan and the Brazilian people. Democracy for Japan and the Brazilian people. No protectionism for Japan and the Brazilian people.

More freedom, more development, more investment, and more growth. This is what I wish for Japan and Brazil.

Thank you very much.