President Lula Emphasizes Importance of Cooperation with Indonesia, Praises Visionary Leadership of President Prabowo

President Prabowo Subianto, during a joint press statement with the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday (10/23). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening the strategic partnership between Brazil and Indonesia across various sectors. President Lula delivered the statement during a joint press conference with President Prabowo Subianto, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday (10/23).

“It is an honor to pay a return state visit to President Prabowo Subianto. The strategic partnership that I launched during my first visit to Jakarta in 2008 has proven to be increasingly relevant and actual,” said President Lula.

President Lula emphasized that Indonesia and Brazil are two major democracy countries with rapidly growing economies. Both countries also share a common responsibility to strengthen economic and trade cooperation.
“I believe the people of Indonesia and Brazil deserve our greater efforts to ensure that trade between our two countries grows in line with our population growth. Therefore, we will work hard to make Indonesia and Brazil two key partners in the geography of the global economy,” President Lula added.

On that occasion, President Lula stressed the importance of finalizing the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Mercosur and Indonesia. He expressed hope that negotiations can be concluded before his presidency ends.

“As effective voices of the Global South, we also discussed important global issues. Indonesia and Brazil are two countries determined to take their rightful place in a world order undergoing profound transformation. The developing world owes much to Indonesia,” said President Lula.

In addition, President Lula praised President Prabowo’s government for implementing the free nutritious meal program. He said the policy aligns with global initiatives to combat hunger and poverty.

“We know that no one can maintain sustainable development without addressing hunger and poverty. The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which was launched during Brazil’s presidency of the G20, has received Indonesia’s support from the beginning. The school meal program under President Subianto’s administration deserves recognition today as part of efforts to accelerate the implementation of that Alliance,” said President Lula.

President Lula expressed confidence that the relationship between Indonesia and Brazil will continue to grow. He underscored that the partnership between the two nations must be based on equality and mutual benefit.

“I want to say, my friend President Prabowo, that Brazil and Indonesia will be as great as we want them to be. What is happening today in politics and economics shows that we need to talk more about the similarities between our two countries, so that we can strengthen our trade relations, our scientific and technological cooperation, our cultural and political ties to such an extent that we can increasingly reduce our dependency on only one country,” said President Lula.

(Bureau of Press, Media, and Information of the Presidential Secretariat) (TCUD/TM)