Brazil’s Lula eyes deeper Asean ties thru PH visit
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is seeking to expand trade ties with the Philippines as he also counts on Manila to back his country’s bid to forge closer ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and upgrade its status into a full dialogue partner.
The 81-year-old leftist leader, who recently made a historic political comeback after surviving a corruption conviction and imprisonment, arrived in Manila on Friday for a state visit. He will attend the 49th Asean Summit and Related Summits as a guest of the chair.
In an exclusive online interview with the Inquirer ahead of his arrival, Lula said bilateral trade between the Philippines and Brazil had quadrupled over the past decade but remained far below its potential, considering the size of their respective economies.
“The Philippines has 115 million people, while Brazil has 214 million. We are two very populous countries. It makes no sense for our bilateral trade to amount to just $2.7 billion. That is why this state visit is so important,” he said.
According to Lula, he and President Marcos would seek to expand and diversify trade and mutual investments.
His visit coincides with the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Brazil, established in 1946.
“We want to buy more from and sell more to the Philippines, including higher-value-added products. Governments have a responsibility to open doors, but it is business leaders who actually make the deals,” he said.
The Philippines is a major market and top importer of Brazilian pork in the region.
Investment areas
Manila imported $1.84 billion worth of goods from Brasilia, with meat products (pork, beef, and chicken) making up 86 percent of the total volume, according to Brazil’s agriculture ministry.
Lula said infrastructure, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and digital transformation are among the areas Brazil sees as having considerable investment potential.
He also identified defense aerospace as a promising area of cooperation, noting that the Armed Forces of the Philippines had deployed Brazilian-made armored vehicles and aircraft and had expressed interest in Embraer’s KC-390 military transport aircraft.
Dialogue partner
But energy cooperation could be one of the most consequential areas of the partnership, with Lula offering to share Brazil’s experience in biofuels as the Philippines seeks to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels.
“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East reminds us of the need to seek alternatives to reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels,” Lula said.
He said Brazil’s experience showed the benefits of diversifying energy sources and using biofuels to decarbonize the economy and strengthen energy security.
In addition, Lula said, Brazil wants to upgrade its existing relationship with Asean to a full Dialogue Partnership, the highest level of engagement the regional bloc maintains with external partners.
“As the current Asean chair, we count on the Philippines’ support in taking this further step toward closer relations with the bloc,” he said.
Brazil currently holds a Sectoral Dialogue Partnership with Asean, a status it obtained in 2023. Its government formally sought an upgrade in January this year, seeking greater access to cooperation and dialogue with the 11-member regional bloc.
Lula said stronger engagement with Southeast Asia was a priority for Brazil, which considers Asean its fifth-largest trading partner.
Trade between Brazil and Asean accounted for $38.4 billion in 2025, making the bloc the Latin American country’s fifth-largest trade partner, behind only China, the European Union, the United States, and Mercosur, South America’s regional trade bloc.
“We have complementary and dynamic economies, with considerable potential to expand our trade. Both Brazil and Asean believe that diversifying partnerships is essential in an increasingly unstable global environment,” Lula said.
“The world is undergoing profound transformations, and Brazil and Asean are at the heart of at least two of them,” he added.
Lula also welcomed closer Philippine engagement with the BRICS bloc, saying both Brazil and the group would benefit from partnerships with countries, such as the Philippines.
Aside from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa comprise BRICS.
“Brazil and BRICS would both benefit greatly from closer partnerships with countries, such as the Philippines, a nation of the Global South committed to multilateralism and the peaceful settlement of disputes,” Lula said.
He cited the bloc’s role in pushing for reforms in global governance and giving developing countries a greater voice in international affairs.
Lula’s visit to Manila marks the first time a sitting Brazilian president has traveled to the Philippines.
He secured an unprecedented fourth, nonconsecutive presidential term in Brazil, defeating right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in an Oct. 25 runoff election.
His victory marked the first time since Brazil returned to democracy in the 1980s that a presidential candidate who finished second in the first round went on to win the runoff.
