Lula highlights the protection of the world's tropical rainforests in meeting with the president of Indonesia

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took part today (20) in his third bilateral meeting during the expanded G7 Summit that is being held in Hiroshima, Japan. Lula spoke with Indonesian President Joko Widodo for about half an hour.

Environmental preservation was one of the meeting's main topics. Indonesia is among the countries harboring large areas of preserved tropical rainforests – around 98 million hectares – that the president of Brazil wants to bring together in an international group for the protection of biomes alongside the Democratic Republic of Congo and Amazonian nations.

Lula and Widodo also agree concerning the war between Russia and Ukraine. The Indonesian president said he held the same position as Brazil in saying that the world needs peace and that he had been with both Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss global food security with the two countries, both major grain exporters.

Lula, in turn, invited Widodo to visit Brazil – and said that countries that harbor large populations, such as Brazil and Indonesia, had to become much closer. The population of Indonesia is the fourth largest in the world: around 280 million inhabitants. Widodo said he was interested in increasing imports of Brazilian products, especially animal protein.

BILATERAL RELATIONS - In 2023, Brazil and Indonesia will celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations, first established in 1953. In 2008, during Lula's second term in office, the two countries signed a strategic partnership that led to agreements in fields such as agriculture, banking systems, education, energy and mining, poverty eradication, trade, and investment.

In 2007, Indonesia created the Keluarga Harapan Program ("Family Hope" Program, in Indonesian). This cash transfer program is similar to Brazil's Bolsa Família, which has helped the local government assist 10 million families in extreme poverty.

Brazil and Indonesia also maintain a cooperation agreement in matters related to Defense. This has made Indonesia one of the world's biggest buyers of Brazilian Embraer's Super Tucano aircraft.

TRADE BALANCE - Brazilian exports to Indonesia reached almost USD 3.1 billion in 2022, a 51.4% increase compared to the previous year. Imports of Indonesian products added up to around USD 1.8 billion. Thus, the trade volume between the two countries was slightly under USD 5 billion.

The most exported Brazilian products to Indonesia were soybean meal (50% of the total), sugar (16%), cotton (8.6%), and wheat (6.1%). Brazil, on the other hand, imported mainly vegetable oil (32%), rubber (8.2%), laminated steel (5.1%), and fabrics (4.4%).

In the field of economy, Brazilian investment in mining in Indonesia and Indonesian investment in Brazil in the sugar and alcohol, pulp and paper, tobacco, and textile sectors must be highlighted.