Spanish
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva landed in Indonesia this Wednesday for a regional tour that will include a stop in Malaysia, where he will participate in the summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in which a possible meeting with US President Donald Trump is expected.
The 79-year-old leader arrived in Jakarta aboard a Brazilian Air Force plane around 6:00 p.m. local time (09:00 GMT) and was received by a delegation from Prabowo Subianto's government.
The meeting with Prabowo, which is expected to take place between Thursday and Friday, responds to another state visit made by the former Indonesian general to Brazil in July of this year.
According to the live broadcast of the Indonesian Executive, Lula disembarked from the aircraft on a rainy afternoon and was received with honors in a brief ceremony, after which he boarded a vehicle escorted by agents of the security forces of the Asian country.
It is still unknown whether the Brazilian's agenda includes any activities for Wednesday night, while it has already been revealed that on Thursday he will participate in a forum with businessmen from both countries and on Friday he will visit the ASEAN headquarters, both appointments in Jakarta.
The objective of this tour, according to official sources in Brasilia, is to consolidate the commercial presence of the South American giant in Southeast Asia, starting with Indonesia, the region's largest economy, in areas such as food security, bioenergy, and defense.
The expansion of Brazilian exports to Indonesia, both members of the BRICS bloc, will also be discussed, especially in the agricultural and meat sectors.
In addition, cooperation agreements in renewable energies and biofuels are expected to be signed, according to sources from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
The interest in strengthening ties between Indonesia and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) will be one of the topics addressed by Brazil, as the current pro tempore president of the bloc.
Subsequently, Lula will travel to Kuala Lumpur, where he will meet on Saturday with the Malaysian Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, with the aim of diversifying trade flows and expanding investments between both countries.
In addition to a business meeting, agreements are planned in the areas of technology, semiconductors, and science.
In Kuala Lumpur, the leader will also participate on Sunday in the ASEAN summit as the current president of the BRICS group of emerging economies.
On the sidelines of the summit, between October 25 and 26, Lula could have a meeting with Trump, which, although not confirmed, was not ruled out by Brasilia either, which highlighted this week that "there are spaces" on the agenda available.
The meeting would be held amid trade tensions, after the U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian products following the trial in which former President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.
